One of the most important aspects of marketing is promotion and designing promotion is the most difficult yet creatively enriching job. Promotion involves advertisements, personal selling, publicity and sales amongst others (Ogden, Minahan & Bednall, 2017). Many businesses also carry out promotional campaigns to market their products to the target consumers. However, businesses have to keep the ethical and social responsibilities in mind while doing promotional campaigns. It is first important to understand what ethical and social responsibilities of a business are.
The essay provides a detailed overview of designing promotional campaigns. In addition, it also explains the different issues involved and the ethical and social responsibilities. The prime focus of the essay is to discuss the various ethical and social issues that might be encountered while designing for a food and beverages club. The essay follows a systematic approach while explaining the various aspects of ethics to consider while designing promotional campaign to increase revenues for the local club. The club chosen for the purpose is Singapore Recreation Club.
An individual without any knowledge about ethics might find it difficult to understand the importance of it in businesses. However, ethics and social moralities are not difficult to comprehend (Anunciação et al. 2016). A set of principles that enable an individual to realize and appreciate the values of others are referred to as ethics. Ethics also mean the conduct by which individuals lead their lives. Every individual follows these conducts in his or her life. These conducts vary according to the environment in which an individual grows up and the way he or she is raised. Viewing ethics from a personal perspective, it involves honesty, compassion and passion. Keeney et al., (2014) state that the code of ethics followed by people in their personal life culminates in the set of ethics drafted and maintained in the workplace. Realization of social responsibility stems from ethics and the way these are followed.
With a view to design a promotional campaign for the Singapore Recreation Club, ethical dimensions and social responsibilities have to be kept at the forefront. Promotions for clubs include entertainment, events, games, advertisements and sales amongst others. In fact, promoting any business has to be done by staying within the protocols of social responsibility and codes of conduct. Keeping in view, the personal perspectives, honesty and compassion must be the ethical points that the promotional design must adhere. When it comes to social responsibility, the club must organize events that can contribute to the betterment of the environment and the concerned locality.
Ethics in business has been followed after the 1980s, during the emergence of the television and the news media. According to Carroll (2015), business ethics refers to the system of thought that encourages moral and principles for the well-being of others. Business ethics or BE involves valuing the stakeholders, customers and employees. Further, it refers to equal wage for all not discriminating against any particular cast or religion, no hidden agenda that would befool customers and such. Therefore, the promotional design for SRC must not include any hidden motif that the customers are unaware of and it must not be done at the cost of any employee’s pay cut.
In regards to social responsibility, Shim and Yang (2016) state that the consumers’ perception of a company’s activities encouraging social responsibility depends on that company’s reputation. If a company has a bad reputation and tries to wash it off by involving in CSR activities, consumers might take it as hypocrisy. On the other hand, a company with good reputation, when promotes activities for social betterment is perceived by customers as a reputed and genuine company. The club in question here is SRC that has a good reputation within its locality and hence it could utilize this positive image while engaging in social responsibility activities.
Promotions in today’s world have become largely easier compared to previous few decades owing to the technological revolution. It refers to the dissemination of information regarding any product or service a company aims to sell. Promotion is one of the key elements of the marketing mix. It can be done in multiple ways such as advertising, sales and personal selling amongst others. Promotions are done to portray a positive picture of a company. Rahdan, Mirhashemi and Dehkordi (2014) argue that there cannot be one best way to promote, as it requires the engagement of the different elements of marketing. Promotions done to increase revenues of food and beverage and number of visitors of the club involve greater responsibilities of ethics. However, Grace and Cohen (2015) believe that marketing must be done in adherence to the basic principles of humanity and that is and must be the first priority of doing promotion.
The Singapore Recreation Club was founded in 1883 and it has been doing well for the community through its sporting events and recreational facilities since then. It offers a varied spectrum of indoor and outdoor sporting facilities with easy membership. Apart from that, the club also boasts a billard room, a gymnasium, the esplanade bowl and many more. It also brags a barker lounge, the famous Lounge 1883, a banquet and a poolside café. In its mission statement, the club has mentioned that it respects the social responsibility of caring for the environment (Src.org.sg, 2018). While holding on to its ethical stance, the club claims to hold values such as teamwork, sharing knowledge, caring for the less fortunate, and having mutual respect for each member and stakeholders. It is thus evident from the club’s mission statement and values that it believes in promoting the club more than its products.
Clubs and gaming businesses are confronted with new challenges in the present era with growing influence of the internet. Gaming clubs are now transformed into hubs of video games with sophisticated technology and additional features of snacks and beverages. Promoting traditional gaming clubs thus become a daunting task. In the pursuit of going ahead in the race, ethics and social responsibility might be put at stake while campaigning for promotion (Chew, Chung & Lee, 2017). Some of the ethical issues that the clubs might face are:
Ethical responsibility involves following the path of righteousness in every aspect of life. In business, ethical responsibility is the very essence of any company. Ethical responsibilities include contributing to the environment, paying equal wage to employees and refraining from doing business with oppressive countries amongst others. The Company in question here is the Singapore Recreation Club that is looking to increase its revenues by advancing food, beverages, and gaming facilities and thus expand its visitor patronage. Ethics have to be included while designing the promotional campaign.
In order to increase its revenues for food and beverages, the club can organize a community event where representatives of the local community can be invited. Community events are organized to raise funds for a noble cause. This would allow the club to maintain its ethical responsibility while doing the promotions. The event would also provide a platform to the club for enhancing its image as a responsible firm.
One of the best and cheapest ways to do promotions is to post updates in the social media. The social media in recent times have grown to be the most influential and powerful media in the world. It has been estimated that the social media comprises a population that could be formed into a nation. This shows the power this type of media holds. The biggest of brands and companies are turning their attention to this platform as it requires minimum budget and produces maximum result. On the impact of social media, Hajli (2014) stated that social media has given businesses the opportunity to interact directly with their consumers. This interaction has allowed firms to restructure their strategies and implementations in accordance with consumer demand. Therefore, the Singapore Recreation Club can also interact with its consumers on the social network and promote its food and beverages. The ethical concerns involved here is the inappropriate or inaccurate information disseminated to the audience either intentionally or mistakenly. It must be remembered that although the internet has made life easier, it has also created concerns like hacking, phishing and so on. Ashley and Tuten (2015) argue that along with the blessings of the new media, its curses have to be kept in mind as well. The implications of hacking are severe and this has been proved several times (Berger & Fleischmann, 2014). In addition, the consumer behavior perception is something that might prove wrong and hamper the entire promotional campaign.
Tai and Chuang (2014) state that the Corporate Social Responsibility encouraged and maintained by organizations must not only be perceived as a formality, rather it should be taken up as an important organizational function. Promotional campaigns demand proper implementation of the CSR activities from the club. The club can launch products and services that are environment friendly and quality assured as well. However, the club must make sure that maximum numbers of people participate in its CSR related activity. As pointed out by Cha, Yi and Bagozzi (2016), customer participation in a firm’s CSR activity strengthens the bond they share with the club.
Conclusion
In the end, it can be stated that a club’s promotional design must be planned in accordance with the ethical and social responsibility factors. Designing promotions is not a simple task as it might backfire if a single theme goes wrong. The essay tried to explain ethics in simple terms initially and then describe it in the context of promotion. Then the essay provided a thorough explanation of business ethics with inputs from different scholars. A logical argument was followed while structuring the essay. Ethical and social responsibility issues are bound to confront organizations during promotions as it involves only positive portrayal. This might compel the company to hide the negative aspects. The club that was selected for the purpose of the essay is Singapore Recreation Club. The club boasts of wide ranging facilities and entertainment starting from foods and beverages to games and dance classes. In the end, the essay gave a brief description about the CSR activities that firms participate in order to increase their brand value. Similar approach can be done by SRC to promote the club.
References:
Anunciação, P., Hayashi Jr, P., Abib, G., & Batista, L. F. (2016). Ethics, Etiquette and Purpose of Life: In Search of the Coevolution’s Missing Link in the Strategic Field. Asian Journal of Economics and Empirical Research, 3(1), 32-39.
Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), 15-27.
Berger, K. A., & Fleischmann, D. (2014). Gold Peak Tea: Social Media Promotion Gone Wrong. Journal of Critical Incidents, 7.
Carroll, A. B. (2015). Corporate social responsibility. Organizational dynamics, 44(2), 87-96.
Cha, M. K., Yi, Y., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2016). Effects of customer participation in corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs on the CSR-brand fit and brand loyalty. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 57(3), 235-249.
Chew, W. C. E., Chung, H. J., & Lee, J. W. (2017). Sports clubs and organizations in changing times: the case of Singapore. Asia Pacific Journal of Sport and Social Science, 6(1), 71-86.
Grace, D., & Cohen, S. (2015). Business ethics.
Hajli, M. N. (2014). A study of the impact of social media on consumers. International Journal of Market Research, 56(3), 387-404.
Keeney, A. J., Smart, A. M., Richards, R., Harrison, S., Carrillo, M., & Valentine, D. (2014). Human rights and social work codes of ethics: an international analysis. Journal of Social Welfare and Human Rights, 2(2), 01-16.
Ogden, S., Minahan, S., & Bednall, D. (2017). Promotional Competitions: A Taxonomy of Campaign Framing Choices Integrating Economic, Informational, and Affective Objectives. Journal of Promotion Management, 1-32.
Rahdan, M., Mirhashemi, L., & Dehkordi, E. N. (2014). Ethics in International Relations. Indian J. Sci. Res, 7(1), 232-239.
Shim, K., & Yang, S. U. (2016). The effect of bad reputation: The occurrence of crisis, corporate social responsibility, and perceptions of hypocrisy and attitudes toward a company. Public Relations Review, 42(1), 68-78.
Src.org.sg. (2018). About Us | SRC. Src.org.sg. Retrieved 12 January 2018, from https://www.src.org.sg/about-us.php
Tai, F. M., & Chuang, S. H. (2014). Corporate social responsibility. Ibusiness, 6(03), 117.
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