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needed to adopt an integrated strategy to communicate with the general
public, pressure groups, the government and local communities as the
Park tried to establish itself in Hong Kong. Many problems were
encountered that affected the local community and needed to be handled
with sensitivity. It is therefore essential that an integrated approach (Doole
and Lowe, 2008) is adopted in relation to the organisation, company and
employee values and how integrates with the messages that are used for
different stakeholder groups around the world. Although, Disneyland has
been extremely successful in the home market and also in Japan, good
communication skills were needed in Europe/France as well as Hong
Kong because of the cultural differences and the acceptance of the
Disneyland concept by European and Chinese consumers.
8.3.1 Effective communication
Doole and Lowe (2008) argue that in order to build effective
communication strategies to external stakeholders, the organisation must
(1) build relationships with key stakeholders, (2) communicate how and
why the product is different as well as its brand image and identity through
a good positioning strategy which is supported by the communications mix
and (3) communicate the corporate identity supported by good public
relations and sponsorship. This is important as it builds trust between the
organisation and different stakeholders and helps to establish the
product/service in new international markets. As such, there are many
areas of communication that is within the company’s control and an
integrated approach needs to be adopted otherwise the messages can
become confusing, not interpreted properly and inconsistent. Consumers
as well as stakeholders may become confused at the messages conveyed
and much of this confusion is to do with the failure of communication
outwith the company control.
8.4 Building brand equity
Big brands spend a vast amount of money establishing their brand(s) in
the domestic market as well as international and global brands. This is to
increase brand equity (value of the brand) and instil positive associations

