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Memo Attachment
Date: Current
To: Bradford Trask
From: Your name
Subject: To Podcast or Not to Podcast
No longer the domain of wannabe radio DJs or amateurs, podcasting has arrived in respectable
businesses. Large companies such as IBM, Disney, and General Motors are now podcasting.
Defining Podcasting
Podcasting is an easy way to send and receive audio and video files over the Internet. Providers
offer podcast feeds on a range of business topics.
Listeners and Their Benefits
Stephen Malaster of StreetIQ.com describes typical podcast listeners in this way: “The listening
audience for Podcasting is not the 18-year-olds with their iPods so much as it is people a little bit
older. They’re finding demographics in the mid-30s—your typical, well-educated Mac user.”
Three Good Reasons for Podcasting
Malaster identifies three compelling reasons that should prompt companies to embrace this new
technology:
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Bradford Trask Page 2 Current date
Resources Needed
Podcasting is relatively easy and inexpensive. A few hundred dollars can get us going. Our
Webmaster can add a link on our company Web site that would allow clients to subscribe or
Advice From Experts
Business podcasts should be concise, focus on one topic, and be conversational. Nothing turns
off listeners more than rambling, jargon, or dry statistics. The speaker must have a plan, be
prepared, and enunciate clearly.
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10.16 Persuasive Organizational Message Flowing Upward: Combating “Mall Rat”
Invasion (Obj. 4)
Date: April 2, 2015
To: Gerard B. Gordon, President, Oak Park Associates
From: Emma L. Markham, General Manager, Oak Park Town Center
Subject: Encouraging Adult Shoppers to Return to Oak Park Town Center
Restricting Access
It might be wise for Oak Park to follow the lead of other malls facing similar problems. A survey
of 1,000 members of the International Council of Shopping Centers found that nearly a third of
the respondents had adopted policies that limited access of teenagers. Here are a few examples:
• Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota, prohibits unchaperoned teens 17 and under
from access after 4 p.m. on weekends.
a chaperone after 5 p.m. every evening.
Benefits of Restricted Access
If Oak Park institutes restrictions, we could experience a number of benefits:
• Increased profits by attracting a wider range of customers who spend money
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10.17 Persuasive Organizational Message Flowing Upward: Three-Day Weekends,
Anyone? (Obj. 4)
Date: Current
To: Skin Essentials Management Council
From: [Student names]
Subject: Saving Energy, Reducing Costs, and Pleasing Employees
Skin Essentials has always been an employee-centric company with an emphasis on
environmental stewardship, and we would like to suggest a program that meets those goals and
reaps other impressive benefits.
Many municipalities have already implemented a four-day workweek. In Avondale, Arizona, the
city ran a pilot program known as “Green Friday,” to save energy and reduce overall costs. The
summer-long pilot program was a huge success with more than 80 percent of employees and
residents in favor of the schedule. Avondale also reduced its annual janitorial costs by $10,000
and reduced its electricity use by $45,000.
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10.18 Persuasive Organizational Message Flowing Upward: The End of Apples? (Obj. 4)
An e-mail would be equally appropriate in this situation in an organization as welcoming of
employee empowerment as Omni Hotels seems to be. However, a letter is always a more
formal record. It is more likely to be considered seriously than an e-mail that’s much easier
to ignore or more likely to disappear among the hundreds of e-mails executives receive
each day.
Current date
Mr. Richard Johnson
Vice President, Omni Hotels
420 Decker Drive
Irving, TX 75062
Dear Mr. Johnson:
As an Omni associate, I am grateful to be employed by a luxury chain known for its high
rankings of guest satisfaction and its many amenities. I am also pleased to be trained in The
Power of One, and I enjoy the encouragement it provides to associates in offering their opinions
regarding the hotel’s mission and its four-diamond services.
Surely our excellent managers can find other ways to cut costs that have less impact on guest
perceptions and expectations. Some hotels are buying food in smaller quantities to avoid costly
spoilage and waste, streamlining restaurant menus, or reducing the hours of lobby cafes.
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10.19 Persuasive Organizational Message Flowing Upward: How to Work From Home
(Obj. 4)
To: Chris Crittenden <chris.crittenden@beta.com>
From: [Your Name <your e-mail>]
Subject: Improving Training for Telecommuters and Their Managers
Cc:
Bcc:
An increasing number of our employees are becoming telecommuters. Although working at
home or at remote locations promised reduced overhead costs and higher productivity, not all
telecommuting has been successful. Many teleworkers do not succeed because they and their
managers have not been trained in effective procedures.
Some of the problems that telecommuters typically face are lack of face time, resentment among
other office workers, difficulty in coordinating projects, lost creativity from lack of stimulation,
and unmet expectations. They assume that somehow home is going to be a friendlier, easier, and
quieter place to work than the office—and that is not always the case.
A good training program, according to one consultant, integrates four key issues:
Although we could develop our own in-house training program, I believe we would be better
served by hiring an experienced consultant or agency that specializes in offering telecommuting
programs for large companies.
May I have your permission to arrange a meeting with a consultant to explore a telecommuting
training course for our employees? Please give me your response before November 5 when we
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10.20 Persuasive Organizational Message Flowing Upward: Hey, Boss, I Have an Idea
(Obj. 4)
10.21 Persuasive Organizational Message Flowing Upward: Tipping Not Optional (Obj. 4)
Current date
Mr. Constantine Delmonico, General Manager
Big Sur Properties
48130 California Highway 1
Big Sur, CA 93920
Dear Mr. Delmonico:
Even when servers have given good service, some customers leave no tip. This is a serious
problem for the servers at Pacific’s Edge Restaurant. Many of us have gotten together and
decided to bring the problem—and a possible solution—to your attention in this letter.
Restaurants such as the famous Coach House Restaurant in New York now add a 15 percent tip
to the bill. Other restaurants, for example, Lulu in Santa Monica, California, are printing gratuity
guidelines on checks. In fact, American Express now provides a calculation feature on its
terminals so that restaurants can choose the tip levels they want printed.
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10.22 Persuasive Organizational Message Flowing Downward: Saving Cash on Shipping
(Obj. 4)
Date: Current
To: All Employees
From: [Your Name], Manager
Subject: Reducing Overnight Delivery Costs
Overnight delivery services are wonderful, but they are costing us a bundle! To avoid rigid
future restrictions imposed by the CEO, I’m asking you to voluntarily reduce your use of these
delivery services by 50 percent in the next two months.
Rather than face a ban on all overnight services, let’s work together to reduce our costs. Here
are some suggestions:
• Ask yourself whether the recipient will really use the information immediately. If not,
use a cheaper method.
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10.23 Persuasive Organizational Message Flowing Downward: Fixing Atrocious Memo
(Obj. 4)
Date: Current
To: All Managers and Employees
From: Rita Nelson, CEO
Subject: Scheduling Employee Meetings
To save your time and to reduce your frustration, we are suggesting that anyone who schedules
employee meetings in the future give serious thought to these questions:
• Is a face-to-face meeting absolutely necessary?
• Could you achieve your purpose with a telephone, video,
or e-mail conference?
10.24 Identifying the AIDA Strategy in Sales Messages (Obj. 5)
Students are to select a sales letter and analyze it by answering the following questions. Answers
will vary.
a. What techniques capture the reader’s attention?
b. Is the opening effective? Explain.
c. What is the central selling point?
d. Does the letter use rational, emotional, or a combination of appeals? Explain.
e. What reader benefits are suggested?
f. How does the letter build interest in the product or service?
g. How is price handled?
h. How does the letter anticipate reader resistance and offer counterarguments?
i. What action is the reader to take? How is the action made easy?
j. What motivators spur the reader to act quickly?
10.25 Examining Puffery in Advertising (Obj. 5)
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) helps readers distinguish between puffery and deceptive
10.26 Because I Said So? The Truth About Testimonials (Objs. 3, 5)
Celebrities, experts, and ordinary people may appear in ads and commercials. In the United
States such testimonials must be true, though. The advertiser has to have evidence. The FTC says
that endorsers should provide their honest opinions whether they be celebrities, experts, or
“regular people.” However, enforcement appears to be difficult because the FTC warns that
10.27 Critiquing Persuasive Blog Post Headlines and Examining Bylines (Objs. 1, 5)
Answers will vary. A random sampling reveals a vast variety of potential findings, some more
credible than others. All seem to be designed to cause a fickle online reader to follow the link.
Consider this attention getter at Businessweek.com: Job Interviews Are the New First Date.
After following the link, the intrigued reader sees the tamer, more credible title Job Applicants’
Cultural Fit Can Trump Qualifications.
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10.28 Turning Features Into Benefits (Objs. 1, 5)
To ensure originality in the students’ effort, consider assigning a limited number of products or
services and narrowing the target audience. For example, consider a product description like this
one from travel store Magellan’s:
Power Monkey eXtreme—This charger’s large-capacity, 9000 mAh lithium battery holds
enough power to fully charge your tablet or phone multiple times, and can also charge
two devices at once. It powers from a wall outlet, from a USB connection, or with its
10.29 Sales Letter: Pitaya—The Next “Superfruit”? (Obj. 5)
[Current date]
JJ’s Power Gym
800 Union Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Dear Jay:
As a fitness and health food expert, you love juicing. You are familiar with the wonderful taste
and health benefits of pomegranate and açaí berry juices. Perhaps you are already offering these
deliciously wholesome nectars to your customers.
But how about superpremium juice from the pitaya fruit?
It’s delicious and it’s so good for you!
Yet this refreshing exotic fruit is largely unknown in North America. This is about to change!
We have secured a year’s supply of pitaya and exclusively distribute our Pink Pitaya Coco
Blend in the United States. Juice Generation runs a sustainable operation in Nicaragua that
provides opportunities to single mothers who scoop and blend the fruit. Only the frozen pulp is
allowed to reach our shores.
The precious premium Pink Pitaya Coco Blend is now available at an introductory price of $8.45
per 3.5-ounce frozen packet. Taste the fantastic mix of pitaya, banana, and coconut! (Who
knows? You may want to keep it all to yourself!)
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Happy juicing!
Eric Helms, CEO
Juice Generation
P. S. Hurry! The first 50 respondents who order will be entered to win a special prize—one of five
ultraportable juicers, small enough to take on the road! Your odds couldn’t be better, so contact us
NOW!
10.30 E-Mail Marketing Message or Direct-Mail Sales Letter: Promoting Products and
Services (Obj. 5)
10.31 Micromessages: Analyzing Twitter Feeds for AIDA Components (Obj. 1, 2, and 5)
Soltuions will vary, as do the examples in Figure 10.12. Here are a few more model tweets with
comments:
10.32 Writing Persuasive Tweets and Posts (Objs. 1, 5)
10.33 Writing Newsworthy Press Releases (Obj. 6)
10.34 Press Release: I’ve Got News for You! (Obj. 6)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Contact: Cindy Eikenberg
(410) 847-9420
BIG MACS GO GREEN WITH POTATO-STARCH
CLAMSHELL CONTAINERS
Santa Barbara, CA, current date. In an effort to use bio-degradable packaging, McDonald’s has
approved a new sandwich container for its Big Mac. Over 300 McDonald’s stores will begin
handing out its most popular sandwich in an environmentally friendly clamshell container made
from potato starch, limestone, and 100 percent post-consumer recycled fiber.
The new container, produced by EarthShell, is whipped up out of renewable starch that is
reclaimed from the commercial processing of potatoes and French fries. It also uses natural
limestone, cellulose fiber (from post-consumer recycled school milk cartons and juice boxes),
biodegradable protective coatings, manufacturing release agents, water, and a thickener. The
mixture is blended into a batter and then placed between two heated mold plates. Water in the
mixture turns to steam, expanding the blend that eventually cools into a waffle-like form.