Strategy mcr-dec15 CIM ASSIGNMENTS

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MARKETING CORPORATE REPUTATION
DECEMBER 2015
[Pick the date]

Marketing Corporate Reputation Membership Number: 14348409
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Contents
Task One: Online Reputation .................................................................................................................3
1.1 Evaluating the concept of reputation management in a digital age, and the importance and
significance of managing corporate reputation......................................................................................4
1.1.1Corporate Reputation Concept...................................................................................................4
1.1.1 Reputation Management in a Digital Age..................................................................................4
1.1.2 Importance and Significance of Managing Corporate Reputation for all organizations ...........5
1.2 Evaluation to the extent which Keells Super actively manages its reputation, and the steps Keells
Super needs to initiate to protect the reputation..................................................................................7
1.3 Analysis on how Keells Super reputation with key stakeholder groups, and identifying the areas
of weakness ..........................................................................................................................................10
1.4 Recommendation and justification of the reputation management strategy for Keells Super .....12
1.4.1 The Political and Financial Consequences of Implementing the Recommendations..............13
1.4.2 Review on social medial and digital platforms and appraisal of the effectiveness of each as
online reputational management tool..............................................................................................15
Task Two: Monitoring Online Reputation ............................................................................................17
2.1Critically analyze Keells Super’s online monitoring structures and processes, and the possible
effect they might have on its external reputation................................................................................18
2.1.1 Analysis of Keells Super’s current online monitoring structure and processes.......................18
2.1.2 The impact the online monitoring structures and processes have on Keells Supers external
reputation .....................................................................................................................................20
2.2 Critically analyze the role and impact of monitoring online reputation, and appraise the Keells
Super’s current monitoring policies and practices ...............................................................................21
2.1.2 Analysis on the role and impact of monitoring online reputation ..........................................21
2.2.1 Keells Super’s Online Monitoring Policies and Practices.........................................................22
2.1.2.1 Appraisal of Keells Super’s Current Online Monitoring Policies...................................22
2.1.2.2 Appraisal of Keells Super’s Current Online Monitoring Practices.....................................23
2.2 Critically evaluate the extent to which these policies have an impact on the overall reputation
of Keells Super ......................................................................................................................................24
2.3 Recommendation an online monitoring strategy that will support Keells Super’s objectives
and protect its reputation.....................................................................................................................25
Appendix One – Company Background ................................................................................................27
Appendix Two – Reputation Audit........................................................................................................29
Reference..............................................................................................................................................34

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Task One
Online Reputation
Word Count: 2633
“It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation….but only one bad one to lose
it”- Benjamin Franklin

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1.1 Evaluating the concept of reputation management in a digital age, and the importance and
significance of managing corporate reputation
1.1.1 Corporate Reputation Concept
In order to remain competitive and achieve business goals, a company must constantly feed its
reputation positively, especially in the present days when the market is so saturated with so many
brands (Tom Watson, 2007)
As argued by Bernstein (2004), the products and services, industry image, country of origin image are
the key filters of reputation where he believes that how organization presents itself to the public and
how stakeholders perceive the organization is directly linked with a company's corporate reputation.
Hence it is important create and modify a company's own image and reputation, they can only
manipulate controllable factors such as quality, personal interactions, advertising and other marcom,
visual identity elements and to a lesser extent media comment and word of-mouth.
Corporate reputation defined as "overall estimation in which a company is held by its constituents. A
corporate reputation represents the net affective or emotional reaction - good bad, weak or strong-
of customers, investors, employees and general public to the company's name". (Fombrun,1996, p.9)
Also "corporate reputation is all encompassing term for what employees think about their employer,
what customers think about their provider, what investors think about their shareholding and so on"
suggested by Varey (2002, p. 193)
1.1.1 Reputation Management in a Digital Age
The management of corporate reputation is facing enormous challenges. Driven by high expectations
of good behavior and disclosure, NGO’s, pressure groups and activists, newly welcome consumers,
regulators and disaffected employees are analyzing corporate behavior as never before.
Online and offline media are being used in increasingly complicated ways to draw attention to issues
and mobilize opinion. In the current era anyone has the ability to broadcast their views instantly and
broadly using the wide range of tools freely available and with journalist and other opinion-formers
using blogs, micro-blogs and other web-based media as core tools to track news and trends, hence
anyone’s issue can be intensified instantly.
Furthermore, reputation is now global it’s no more local nor regional. What is expressed to day in one
city can impact sales tomorrow in another city. Videos leaked on the web of an altercation between a
Chinese trawler and a Japanese coast guard instantly jeopardized relations between the two
governments.
Corporates long believed they were mainly in control of their reputations, however majority of the
organizations feel they are less able than ever to manage their reputations and influence behavior.
The ability for corporates to manage their reputation has continuously been limited. However brands
are built not by corporates, but by consumers, and not in ways that a communications executive or a
brand manager might need or expect.

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As former JWT chairman Jeremy Bullmore states out “Consumers build an images as birds build nests.
From the scraps and straws they chance upon.”
1.1.2 Importance and Significance of Managing Corporate Reputation for all organizations
Corporate reputation is an intangible concept. However good reputation helps organizations to gain
competitive edge and increase the corporate value. A corporate which has a good reputation can
accomplish its objectives among its key stakeholders without any hassle.
Majority of the corporate value the importance of corporate reputation but they failed to attend to it
due to the day-day operational urgencies it faces. However the following mentioned are some the
benefits of corporate reputation;
 Stakeholder support in times of crisis
 Companies value in the financial marketplace
 Customers preference in engaging in business with your organization when the competitors
offers the same products at the same quality and price
Corporate reputation is significantly important in the modern day, where the corporates are at a
position of 24/7 internet media, pictures, reviews even forged lies can be posted instantly and spread
throughout the online world instantly. On the current context the new first impression is the internet,
where customers “google” you while speaking to the customer service executive, however destroying
corporate reputation can be conducted immensely by disgruntled employees, competitors, harmful
reviews or anonymous post from troublemaking site may end up showing up on the first page of
google when searching for your business. Hence mechanism is such that anyone has the ability to say
anything digitally and it shows up online, where the times are such that people don’t ask for references
anymore, they end up searching on google.

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4 out of 5 people say they have received advice
via social media regarding what product or service
to purchase
More than 92% of buyers regularly check
reviews online before making a purchase or
service decision
SOURCE: HUBSPOT STATE OF INBOUND MARKETING LEAD GENERATION REPORT,2014
In the past corporates have suffered major damages to their reputation. However mismanaged crisis
can layoff major proportionate off an organization’s share price. Eg; In year 2013 Target experienced
a heavy blow to its reputation when data breach compromised the personal information of more than
100 million customers, where 40 million debit and credit card information of customers were at risk.
The modern day consumer conducts wide research on corporates and products before making a
purchase or decision. It is critically essential that the organization reputation be in a healthy position.
The following are some information that justifies the significance and importance of corporate
reputation.
WHY SHOULD REPUTAION MANAGEMENT BE YOUR TOP PRIORITY?
4/5
Consumers reverse
purchase decisions
looking at negative
content online
(Nielsen)
90%
Of consumers trust
recommendations from
others
(Forester)
87%
Believe the CEO’s
reputation is an
important part of
corporate’s reputation
(Hill & Knowlton)
83%
Of companies will face a
crisis that will negatively
impact their share price
between 20% and 30%,
during the next five years
(Oxford-Metrica)
A US survey conducted by Burson-Marsteller discovered that 95% of CEO’s trusted that a corporate
reputation plays acritical role in achieving the business objectives. However only 19% has a formal
system in place to monitor and measure corporate reputation. Hence for any organizations in the

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modern day managing corporate reputation plays important and significant role in meeting their
respective business goals
1.2 Evaluation to the extent which Keells Super actively manages its reputation, and the steps Keells
Super needs to initiate to protect the reputation
Corporate reputation management needs to function as a corporate process, where the first phase
in the reputation management cycle is measuring reputation. The next phase is a key driver analysis
to rectifying the element influencing the respective organization’s reputation, where the identified
drivers which is relevant to the public’s perception need to be managed cautiously. However
corporate communication might only have a moderating role in the process. Critical elements might
be such as establishing an effective CSR strategy and increasing product/service quality. Hence
reputation evaluation completes the cycle
Figure 1: Reputation Mangement Cycle (Source: Prof.Dr.Manfred Schwaiger)
Keells Super has managed well in terms of product/services and innovation (Reffer Appendix two).
However Keells Super will not sustain if it fails to manage online repuatation. However currently
Keells super faces online reputational issues, where it needs to be addressed now or the damage for
the future will enormous
•Calculate impact of quality,
CSR,attractiveness etc. via reputation
onoutcome (driver analysis )
•Feed drivers; Improve TQM,
performance , setup CSR
strategy.
•Create facts and drive
perception(Corp. Comm)
•Measure repuatation and
customers within your strategic
group . Locate your position
compared to benchmaks
•Check iplementaion media
response?
•Effectiveness and efficincy as
expected?
4.Controling 1.Measuring
2. Expanding
3.Acting

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Online and Offline Reputation Management of Keells Super
The following table evaluates of how actively Keells Super manages its reputation, where it indicates
whether it’s managed online and offline. However it further evaluates whether the activity is a
strength or weakness and the respective level of impact of it as well
(ON-Online, OF-Offline, S-Strength, W-Weakness, L- Level of Strength (H-High, M-Medium, L-Low))
Activity ON OF Explanation S W L
Reputation Management
Tracking Reputation √ √ Monitoring Keells Supers brand consistency
in respective to the issue and activities
which could occur in the eyes of its target
market
√ M
Keyword based monitoring √ Keells Super does not efficient conduct
keyword based monitoring
√ M
Customer Experience √ √ Keells Super has failed to integrate its online
and offline customer experiences, Where its
offline customer experience is one of the
best in the island where its offline is being
weak due to not offering the same
experience the customer would want to
perceive.
√ H
Employee Engagement √ √ High percentage of employee
disengagement;
-Job expectation unmet
-Below average remuneration packages for
current employees
√ H
Search Protection
Brand Keywords Protection √ Ensure positive results on search engines
Keells Supers brand name and related phase
are researched
√ L
SE wipeout √ Removal/replacement/burial of search
results showing negative reviews or opinions
or bad PR
√ L

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Rich Snippets √ Authorship and microformats compliance to
show google validated data about Keells
Super when searched
√ M
Review Management
Onsite Feedback √ √ Collections of customer reviews and ratings
through Keells Supers website, social media
channels and supermarkets.
√ M
Integrated Review Solution √ Onsite tools to have integrated reviews
publishing across all managed social media
√ M
Offsite Reviews √ Managing rebuttals and positive reviews
publishing across third party sites and
magazines, newspaper articles
√ H
Damage Repair
Dialogue Control √ √ Addressing bad PR and negative comments
and connecting with disgruntled customers
to get the reviews off
√ H
Negative review
Burial/replacement
√ Ensuring that negative reviews are taken
down or replaced by positive ones or third
party sites
√ H
Branding on Social Media
Channel management √ Social Media channel management √ M
Community development √ √ Building fans, followers, like and increasing
customer footfall across all Keells Super
markets.
Customer engagement
√ M
Social Post √ Campaign specific postings across all social-
sphere
√ M
Table 1

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1.3 Analysis on how Keells Super reputation with key stakeholder groups, and identifying the areas of
weakness
According to Eden and Ackermann (1988) stakeholders are people or small groups with the power to
respond to, negotiate with, and change the strategic future of the organization. Stakeholder
management has become important due to the increased power and interest stakeholders possess.
Corporate reputation is the total estimation which a company is held by its external and internal
stakeholders solely based on its past behavior and possibility of its future behavior and practices.
However the company can might have a different reputation with each of the stakeholders according
to their experience in engage with the company or the perception they have had or what they have
heard about it from others.

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The following table outlines the stakeholder analysis of Keells Super in terms of reputation
management
(P- Power, I-Interest, S-Strength, W-Weakness)
Stakeholder P I Explanation Threat to Reputation S W
Investors &
Shareholders
H H
The company is responsible for the investment made
by the investors and shareholders. However they have
a high interest of the financial and non-financial
outcome of the strategic decisions made by the
company
Failure to;
Offer competitive
products and
services.
Operate/Manage the
business and deliver
result.
Satisfy investors and
shareholders.
√
Customers L H
Customers are becoming smarter day by day and
educated in making their choice. Hence customer
bargain power has been immensely increasing, where
the competitors are offering similar products and
services and targeting the same customer segment.
Customers are concerned about the value they receive
to the amount they spend. However the brand image of
the company might influence their decision to engage
with Keells Super.
Failure to;
To meet the promised
quality.
Delver customer
Satisfaction.
By not adhering
ethical standards will
damage customer
reputation.
Deliver a reliable
product.
√
Media M H Media has high interest in the organizations growth in
terms financial and non-financial performance and how
they operate their business. Annual financial
performance and CSR initiatives are consistently
observed by the media. However the media is unable to
influence the companies’ decision making process but it
does create awareness in terms of corporate
reputation.
Government & Regulators have high interest in the
activities of the organizations, in order to assure the
company does not attempt to practice any kind of
unethical business practices which could impact &
damage the economy, customers & the public. However
the impact the government and the regulators towards
the companies decision making process form sector-
sector, where low involvement in the retail sector and
high involvement in the financial sector.
Failure to;
Act Responsibly
Meet quality
Standards
Pay Taxes
Respect stakeholders
Adhere to Laws
√
Regulators &
Government
M H

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Suppliers
M M
Suppliers have a medium level of power and interest.
However the organization relies on the quality of
supplies. Hence Keells Super needs to assure no
damage is being done to their suppliers organizational
activates.
Failure to;
Adhere contracts.
Timely Payment.
Assurance during
time of crisis.
Pay suppliers.
√
Potential &
Current
Employees
H H
As a company which is in the service sector, the people
element is a key factor in maintaining a healthy
relationship with potential and current employees.
Hence they are keenly interested on the decisions the
company makes and how the decision made impacts
their respective jobs.
Failure to;
Adhere to health and
safety standards
Engage Fairly with
trade unions
Adhere to the ethical
standards
Adhering to
employment laws and
regulations
√
Table 2
1.4 Recommendation and justification of the reputation management strategy for Keells Super
The table below describes the identified key areas in task 1.2 that need to be addressed with relevant
reputation management strategies on the respective different scenarios. The recommendation are
supported wit justification as to how it will assist in addressing the above identified key issues.
Key areas to be
addressed
Key findings Recommendations Justification – Impact on
Reputation
Customer
Experience
Lack of
integration
between online
and offline
customer
experience
To improve online customer
experience as it does not
integrate well with offline
customer experience.
However online experience
will need to be revamped.
Eg : Burberry is one of the best
organizations to benchmark in
terms of online and offline
customer experience
Integrity of Keells Supers brand will
have a facelift in the eyes of the
consumer
Twice as many people hear about
a bad customer experience than a
good one. Hence it tends damage
the brand
It takes 12 good customer
experience for a business to make
up for a bad one. Hence a bad
customer experience has the
ability to drive customers away
and damage the overall brand of
Keells Super.

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Negative
review
management
Negative
reviews/
ratings/
comments/
feedbacks are
badly managed
To invest on a social listening
tool which integrates all the
online and social media
channels, where negative
reviews/comments/ ratings
can be responded on a real
time basis
Negative reviews will have a bad
impact on the overall image of
online reputation. However
negative comments/reviews can
appear on the 1st
page of search
which will damage the reputation
immensely
Employee
Engagement
High
percentage of
employee
disengagement;
-Job
expectation
unmet
-Below average
remuneration
packages for
current
employees
Increasing the level of
employee engagement
through meeting the job
expectation and providing
attractive remuneration
packages for current
employees
Employees are 15 times more
willing to recommend a company
with an excellent reputation vs.
weak.
Potential employees are 14 times
more willing to work for a
company with an excellent
reputation vs. a weak.
Potential employees are 10X more
willing to work for a company with
an excellent reputation vs. weak
Online
reputation
management
policy
Unavailability of
written online
reputation
management
policy
A clear policy has to be in
place in order to face any
extreme online reputation
management scenario.
However the policy shouldn’t
be complicated.
Its impact on the speed of
response. However having a
written policy in hand would
support to respond the crisis much
faster and assist to avoid time in
thinking how to respond after the
online reputation management
issue arises.
Table 3

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1.4.1 The Political and Financial Consequences of Implementing the Recommendations
The political and financial consequences along with the benefits of the recommendation are show in
the below table.
Recommendation Political Sequence Financial
Consequences
Strategic Benefits
Strengthening online
and offline customer
experience integration
Cost incurred in
improving online
customer experience
in term of technology
Improvement in
customer experience
will result in increase
of revenue
Better customer
satisfaction will assist
to increase website
traffic
Customer Lifetime
value will increase
Average order value
will increase
Efficient negative
review management
Resistance from the
Marketing and
communication
manager to hand
over online and
social media
responsibilities
Cost of purchasing
and implementing a
real time social
listening tool
Cost of training
employees
Respond to negative
reviews and
comments on real
time
Tracking positive and
negative social
mentions and
sentiments across all
channels (social
media, website etc.)
Increasing employee
management,
engagement and
relationship
High cost of
remuneration
packages for current
and potential
employees
Continuous training
and development for
current employees
Demand for jobs at
Keells Super will
increase
Employee turnover
will decrease
Potential Employees
perception of Keells
Super will be positive

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Attract the best talent
at significantly low
cost
Developing an online
reputation
management policy
Ability to adhere to
the set of code of
ethics
Cost of
Documentation
Infrastructure cost to
implement the policy
Cost incurred in
developing a policy
Ex: recruiting
reputation
management
consultant
Higher effectiveness
and responsiveness
Minimized risk of
health and safety
related risk
Ability to respond
proactively
1.4.2 Review on social medial and digital platforms and appraisal of the effectiveness of each as online
reputational management tool
Social Media and Digital
Platform
Strategic Benefit Effectiveness
(1-5 Rating)
Facebook (583,674) It can enable to build relationship with your
consumer
It can be a great resource to generate brand
awareness
Facebook pages are noe indexed
Facebook helps to understand consumer behavior
based on sharing and commenting on the Keells
Super page
5
Twitter (145,312) Help 4
Instagram (98,657) Photos immediately convey emotional response,
where it creates an emotional connection. Hence it
enables Keells Super to increase the engagement
level
4.5
Blog (264,937) The blog helps Keells Super to develop more focused
content
4

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A blog has its own URL, which is highly appreciated
by google. Hence it enable Keells Super to perform
better on Search and build authority
Table4 : Social Media and Digital platforms used by Keells Super

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Task Two
Monitoring Online Reputation
Word Count: 1532
NumWord Count: XXXX

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2.1 Critically analyze Keells Super’s online monitoring structures and processes, and the possible effect
they might have on its external reputation
2.1.1 Analysis of Keells Super’s current online monitoring structure and processes
According to Jones et al(2009,p.34);online reputation is the process of positing, monitoring, talking
and listening as the organization engages in a transparent and ethical dialogue with its various online
stakeholders.
Using Jones et al(2009) online reputation monitoring matrix, Keells Super is currently in the “Blind
Miners” quadrant, where they have a very narrow online monitoring process which each online
channel is individually monitored. However the monitoring process won’t be done on a real time basis
due to the unavailability of social listening tool which does not enable Keells super to respond and
engage with the consumer proactively. Hence Keells Super is in high risk in the online reputation
environment.
As mentioned above Keells Super has a very narrow online monitoring process, where each online
channel is individually managed by designated employee due to the unavailability of platform which
enable to manage all the digital channels in one go. The monitoring process such that it’s monitored
on a once in two hourly basis. Hence it fails to monitor on a real-time basis. Therefore Keells super
monitors the following channels individually;
Facebook monitoring structure and process
The following is the online monitoring structure and process of Keells Super uses for Facebook,
where they use Facebook insights;
 Page Fans/Likes/Views: Keells Super monitors fans and the page views on weekly basis
which is done manually generating data form the Facebook page. Likes are further
monitored on the category of unlikes, organic likes and paid likes

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 Engagement : The engagement level is monitored on an hourly basis in terms of organic and
paid and the total reach of scheduled post
 Comments : The comments are monitored on hourly basis around the clock
 Competitor Pages: Monitoring and comparing the performance of the page with the rest of
competitors on weekly basis
Twitter Monitoring Structure and Process
The following is the online monitoring structure and process Keells Super follows for twitter, where
they uses twitter analytics;
 Tweet Impressions : Monitoring twitter impressions on a daily basis
 Twitter Page visits : Monitoring tweets on a daily basis
 Hashtag Monitoring : Keells Super monitors hashtag on twice a week basis to understand the
trends
 Favorites : The number of favorites gained out of the daily tweets
 Retweets : Monitoring number of retweets on daily basis
Instagram Monitoring Process and structure
The following is the online monitoring structure and process Keells which adheres for Instagram
through the use of Instagram analytics;
 Comments : They monitor comments and like on weekly basis to generate insights
 Hashtag : Keells Super monitors posts based on location, hashtag and username on twice a
week basis
 Followers : They monitor the followers and followers information twice a week
Website/Blog Monitoring structure and process
The following is the online monitoring structure and process Keells Super uses to capture through
google analytics;
 Daily Visits : Monitors daily visit in terms of organic, referral and direct and whether they are
new visitors or returning visitors on daily basis
 Average time spent on website : The average time spent on the website is monitored daily
 Bounce Rate : The bounce rate is monitored on a daily basis

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Overall Online Monitoring process of Keells Super
Online Reputation Management of Keells Super
Monitoring Managing
Keeping track
of Comments
How to
Communicate
Effectively
Online and
Social Media
Stakeholders
Is Participating in
Are Engaged
is
is
is is

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2.1.2 The impact the online monitoring structures and processes have on Keells Supers external
reputation
The following table analyzes the impact the online monitoring structures and processes have on
Keells Supers external reputation
Online monitoring structure and process Impact on external
Reputation
Facebook High
Twitter Medium
Instagram Medium
Website/Blog High
Table 5
2.2 Critically analyze the role and impact of monitoring online reputation, and appraise the Keells
Super’s current monitoring policies and practices
2.2.1 Analysis on the role and impact of monitoring online reputation
Monitoring online reputation enables organizations to monitor what others (prospects, customers,
clients, anyone and potentially everyone) are saying online in order to further build and monitor
their organization’s online reputation. However
The modern day consumers is tweeting regard the latest product/service, sharing the customer
experience on Facebook through a post, posting picture on Instagram of the new product and more.
However online monitoring enable companies to generate public online content ( through blog post-
Facebook post, form online reviews to tweets) filter it and anakyze and see whether something is
negative or positive is being mentioned regarding the brand. Hence egular interaction and
impressions on online and social media are extremely important to any business success.
THE SHIFT TO IN-DEPTH SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING
36 % 22 % 60 %
of business said they
would increase
monitoring significantly
within the next year
Said they would
increase monitoring
within the next two
years
of businesses looking to
increase social media
monitoring by 2014

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Source: Share Research; Social Media and Business Intelligence Survey
The role of monitoring online reputation is extremely critical for modern day organization. According
to survey by Edison research, when contacting a company for support through social media, 42% of
consumers expect a response within 60 minutes. Hence ever demanding consumers not only expect
respond immediately, but also to resolve customer inquiries efficiently. Hence this cannot be
achieved without efficient and effective online monitoring. In order to maintain a positive brand
image, Keells Super will need to monitor 24 x 7.
Eg: Nestle received enormous amount of negative
comments and criticism in regard to their
environmental practices couple of years ago, and
they did not respond on real time which resulted in
Nestle to close their public page. Hence it is learnt
that consumers address criticism in real time, if the
criticism is not responded in real time it will tend to
damage the organizations reputation
2.2.2 Keells Super’s Online Monitoring Policies and Practices
2.2.2.1 Appraisal of Keells Super’s Current Online Monitoring Policies
The following table outlines the appraisal of Keells Super’s current online monitoring policies;
Policy Description Level of
Impact
Employees Online and
social media policy
Keels Super has strict policy it terms of social media usage.
However employee engagement on social media can have
negative implications employees spreading negative
perception of the organization. However employees are
not allowed to disclose information that are financial,
operational and legal in nature on social media. Hence this
policy will help prevent potential crisis.
High
Complaints
Management Policy
Keells super has written policy on complaints
management. The responsible employee to manage
complaint needs to adhere the policy
Medium
Crisis Management
Policy
Keells Super has a crisis management policy in order to face
something unexpected occurs. When a crisis occurs Keells
Super needs to respond immediately by not letting it lie for
days on end.
High

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Online Reviews Policy Keells super’s online reviews policy, assures that a
dedicated employee is assigned to manage the
review/complaint. However the response give cannot be
generic, should engage with the reviewer/ complainer and
offer to further getting in touch.
High
Content Management
Policy
Dishonorable content such as racial, ethnic, sexual,
religious, and physical disability slurs are not tolerated
Low
Table 6
2.2.2.2 Appraisal of Keells Super’s Current Online Monitoring Practices
The following table outlines the appraisal of Keells Super’s current online monitoring practices;
Practice Description Level of
Impact
Listen Keells Super monitors and manages online and social
media channels individually which is not integrated.
Medium
Assisting Customers Keells Super current monitoring process does not enable to
respond to customer questions and answer smoothly.
High
Building communities Keells supers online monitoring process has not been able
to help in building a online community due to the online
monitoring limitations it faces
High
Managing Keells Super has been moderate in managing monitoring
online reputation across all online and social media
channels.
Medium
Table 7

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2.3 Critically evaluate the extent to which these policies have an impact on the overall reputation of
Keells Super
The following table evaluates to the extent to which the policies mentioned on task 2.3 has an impact
on the overall reputation of Keells Super.
Policy Description Level of
Impact
Employees Online and
social media policy
Online and social media is simply another step in the
evolution of communication. However the importance
of this policy avoids and controls employees posting
inappropriate and confidential documents on social
media which could result in damaging the goodwill
reputation of Keells Super
Medium
Complaints
Management Policy
The purpose of this policy is provide an avenue for
customer communication and feedback. However a
mismanaged complaint could damge the brand
immensely, where the complaint might be trending on
twitter or gone viral on Facebook and blogs
High
Crisis Management
Policy
If the crisis is not well managed it can cause damage to
the reputation of Keells Super. Hence by having policy
to managed crisis it enables organizations to be read to
respond to disaster swiftly and decisively, using all the
platform’s to communicate with the all the
stakeholders. Hence the potential damage to the brand
will be minimized
Organizations
Online Reviews Policy The importance of this respective policy is to manage
online reviews/ ratings. However a mismanaged rating
or review could create issue on the reputation of Keells
Super
Medium
Content Management
Policy
Content management policy will allow creation, editing
and managing online and offline content but all the
content will need to adhere the policy. Hence this will
minimize the damage impacting Keells Supers overall
brand.
High
Table 8

25
2.4 Recommendation an online monitoring strategy that will support Keells Super’s objectives and
protect its reputation
If the proposed recommendation is implemented, Keells Super will be able to move from the “Blind
Miners” quadrant to “Tuned-in Mavens”. Hence gradually Keells Super has the ability effectively and
efficiently monitor and manage online reputation and achieve brand leadership. However the social
listening tool has ability to take care of the online reputation of Keells Super to an average extent
and as it enables monitoring what is important for Keells Super and responding accordingly.
Recommendation
The recommended online monitoring strategy will be to implement an online and social media
listening tool that enable to monitors the website, blog, Facebook, twitter and Instagram on real
time. However it notifies when someone mentions Keells Supers or a related keyword. Hence the
tool is being easily accessible, where users can comfortably manage and monitor multiple social
media accounts through one interface, in order to identify and customize real time analytics.
The following illustrations is a snapshot of the social listening tool

26
Strategic Benefit of the recommendation
The following mentioned outlines the strategic benefit in implementing the social listening tool;
 It enables to address the target audience more effectively
 Find new sales opportunities
 Increase in customer retention
 Evaluating Marketing campaigns
 Ability to monitor competitors
 Identify potential threats to the Organization
 Ability understand trends in the industry
 Improved customer experience
 Scalable brand monitoring
A review of current online tools available and the appropriateness for Keells Super

27
Appendix One – Company Background
Background
Keells Super is part of the John Keells Holdings, which is Sri Lanka’s largest listed company on the
Colombo stock exchange. It has been one of the leading super market chains in Sri Lanka, where it has
been operating for the past 20 years. Currently the portfolio consists of 51 supermarkets located island
wide and it is the first online supermarket in Sri Lanka. The privilege loyalty card program which is
offered to the Keells super clients is jointly operated by Keells Super and Nations Trust Bank. The world
renowned cricketer Kumar Sangakkara is the brand ambassador for Keells Super. Keells super has been
consistently rated among the top 25 most valuable brands in Sri Lanka as per the Brand Finance Index
rating. The brand value of Keells super is estimated at Rs.3986 (Million).
Vision To be one of the leading brands in retail in the region
Values Integrity | Excellence | Innovation | Caring | Trust
Tagline Welcome to life
Financial Performance
The below mentioned information outlines the financial performance and the market share of Keells
super in the past three years.
Source: John Keells Annual Report
Operating Margin ROA
FY11 FY12 FY13 FY11 FY12 FY13
0.2% 0.7% -1.3% -2.5% 0.4% -5.0%
Source: John Keells Annual Report
Revenue(LKR Million) Revenue Growth(YoY) Revenue /Store(LKR Million)
FY11 FY12 FY13 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY11 FY12 FY13
10,258 11,918 14,025 12.7% 16.2% 17.7% 228 254 275
Source: Cargills PLC and JMSL Financial
Reports
Source: CTHR, Ceylon Cold Stores PLC, Richard
Pieris and Company PLC
Market Share
Cargills
Arpico
Keells Super
Laufgas
Other 0
50
100
150
200
250
FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13
Cargills
Keells Super
Arpico

28
Customer Profile
Variables Sub Variables Target Segment
Geographic Density Island wide
Demographic Age Above 16+
Gender Male and Female
Occupation Students | Executives
Monthly Income Above Rs.20,000
Lifestyle Busy Lifestyle
Psychographic Social Class A,B and C
Behavioral Benefits Convenience | Value added
services | Wide range of
products
User Status Existing | Non-existing |
Potential Client | Regular
Client
Readiness Stage Aware | Informed |
Interested | Intended to buy
Attitude Towards
Supermarkets
Positive | Indifferent |
Negative
Purchase Patterns Daily, Weekly and Monthly
and Unintentional
Products and Services
The following diagram outline the range of products offered at Keells Super.
The following mentioned are services offered by Keells Super.
»Online Shopping and Delivery
»Tele-Ordering
»In house bakery, pharmacy and beauty counters at selected outlets
»Coconut scrapping at selected outlets
»Hampers, Gift vouchers, Fruit Baskets
Product Range
Frozen
Food
Household Meat Fruits Vegetables Grocery Bakery Beverages Homeware Liquor

29
Appendix Two – Reputation Audit
Most Valuable Brands 2015; Brand Finance Report
Rank
2014
Rank
2015
Brand Parent
Company
Brand
Value
(Rs.M)
Brand
Rating
Enterprise
Value /
Market
Cap
Brand
Vs
Value
/
EV,MC
(%)
6 8 Cargills Food
City
Cargills
(Ceylon)
17,544 AA 46,921 37
21 21 Keells Super Jay Kay
Marketing
Services
5,541 A+ - -
25 27 Arpico
Supercenter
Richard Pieris 4,044 A- 26,444 15
40 41 Laugfs
Supermarket
Laugfs Gas 1,781 AA 17,101 10
Source: Brand Finance 2015
Reputation Management Characteristics
The following table rates Keells Supers and its competitors characteristics in terms of reputation. .
Each factor will be rated on a scale of 1 to 5, in terms of how the organization is meeting the criteria
in each factor
Nation
Mindednes
s
Corporate
Culture
Honesty
Vision
CSR
Dynamism
Innovation
Manageme
nt
Profile
Quality
Consciousn
ess
Cargills 5 4 5 4.5 5 5 3 4 4
Keells Super 3 5 5 4 4 5 5 4 5
Arpico 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 4
Laugfs
Supermaket
4 3 4 2 3 2 4 3.5 3
Source: LMRB,2015

30
Online Reputation in terms of Audience
The following table presents the number of followers and per month visits Keells Super and its
competitors have generated
Facebook
(Followers)
Twitter
(Followers)
Instagram
(Followers)
Blog
( visits )
Cargills 650,000 189,957 110,366 350,000
Keells Super 583,674 145,312 98,657 264,937
Arpico 431,628 73,631 150,000 138,946
Laugfs Super 149,561 34,326 17,184 NA
RepTrack
The attributes of the Reputation institute’s (2008) RepTrack framework is used to compile the reputaio
audit mentioned below. Each factor will be rated on a scale of 1 to 5, in terms of how the organization
is meeting the criteria in each factor
Attributes Score Justification
Products/Services
High Quality 4 Keell Super have won multiple awards in many areas
such as Top 20 GPTW, best CSR Campaign and many
more.
Value for Money 4
Met Customer Needs 4
Innovation
Innovative 4 Keells Super has been able to introduce innovative value
additions to the supermarket industry in areas such as
online shopping and delivery, tele-ordering, beauty
parlous and in house bakeries
First to Market 5 The first supermarket to introduce the following services
in the island;
 In house Bakery

31
 Online Shopping and delivery
 Tele-Ordering
Keells Super is the first supermarket to introduce the 1
acre supermarket concept to the country.
Adapts quickly to change 4 Due to the constraints in the organization hierarchy, to
an extent CX is resistance to react to changes in the
market
Workplace
Rewards employee fairly 3 Keells Super conducts annual employee’s awards
ceremony in order to recognize and appreciate staff for
service excellence and top performers.
Employee Well-Being 3 Employees at Keells Super are provided with various
benefits which include office transportation, retirement
schemes, medical coverage etc...
Offers Equal Opportunities 3 Currently Keells Super employees over 800 employees
across the country. However different issues in regard to
Hourly wages have been recorded over the past years
( Keells Super Employees Union, 2014 )
Governance
Open and Transparent 4 All of CX’s operational practices, financial and
performance figures, sustainability practices, carbon
foot print levels are available to the public
Behave Ethically 5 KeellS Super maintains and evaluates the Code of
conduct on a quarterly basis in order to keep up with the
modern time frame
Fair in the way it does Business 4 In order to assure Keells Super maintains fair trade
policy, they have a Supply chain sustainability and
operations code of conduct to ensure high ethical
standards are maintained. However they also ensure
that no use of child labor and upholding of human rights
etc.
(John Keells Annual Report 2014/15)
Citizenship

32
Environmentally responsible 4 Keells Super Supermarkets continued with its efforts at
reducing the use of polythene during the reporting
period. The related initiatives of providing consumers
with alternatives to polythene bags such as a reusable
cloth bag known as the ‘Red Bag’ and corrugated
cardboard boxes (offered free of charge to its customers)
were maintained during the year.
Support Good Cause 4
Positive Influence on Society 5
Leadership
Well Organized 5 Headquartered in Colombo and it is a subsidiary of John
Keells Holdings. Keells Super’s organization structure is
well defined.
Appealing Leader 4 Kells Super’s past and present leaders are highly reputed
within the supermarket industry as well as externally for
their exemplary and charismatic leadership
Excellent Management 5 Keells Super was listed in the “Top 20 Great Place To
Work in Sri Lanka” consecutively in the years of 205 and
2014
Clear Vison for its future 4 Keells Super’s vision is to be one of the leading brands in
retail in the region
Performance
Profitable Revenue increased from 25,414 LKR Million to 29,757
LKR Million which is 17 % growth. Keells Super’s EBIT has
been recorder as 586 LKR Million which is an increase of
120%
Better Results than expected Some of the Keells Super outlets have performed beyond
the forecasted figure and some outlets underperformed
than the forecasted data,
 Consumer confidence improved in the year
under review and translated into higher
discretionary spending towards the latter part of
2014/15
 Low inflationary environment

33
 Downwards revision in electricity tariffs
 The growth in customer footfall
Strong Growth Prospects 2015/2016 have been looking positive Keells Super.
Hence Keells Super has been fueling with heavy
investment through adding new outlets through new 1
acre concept outlets

34
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