COM 284- Case Studies

After reading the article on corporate reputation, there were several things that stood out to me. First was how companies use special events and sponsorships in order to get their companies name out there more. Smaller companies use local events while larger companies use events such as the Olympics and will sponsor certain people in the games. Another point that I found interesting was how crucial internal communication with employees within the company is in reaching the goals the company has. Lastly, corporate branding is more beneficial in attributing to the name of the company as well as helping with the companies reputation. Corporate reputation is the attributes of a company when you hear their name. Coca-Cola is a great example of a company at exhibiting corporate reputation because their products are sold in every country except North Korea and Cuba. This gives them a strong corporate reputation because trillions of people enjoy your products and they have gained that corporate respect over time. Another company with a great corporate reputation is Google. Google provides grants to several dedicated social impact initiatives. For example, Goodwill Industries International is one company that strongly benefits from Google's extremely successful company.

Case Studies:
Hertz-
Hertz's three main corporate responsibility pillars are people, planet, and product. Hertz wants to create a positive workplace that values diversity and giving back to the communities where they live and work. They also strive to reduce the impact their operations have on the environment. Lastly, they ensure safety and designing innovative, sustainable solutions for their customers.  They could even have people sitting at the rental sights at airports handing out flyers to people around the time of the events. If more customers are renting from Hertz, or gain more followers or engagement then they will know they are succeeding.  Some major issues facing the people and businesses in the Tampa Metro area and Lee County is the transportation in these areas needs a lot of work. Due to the high growing population in the Tampa Metro area and poor existing infrastructure, transportation is lacking and becoming a major issue. While other metro areas in the country have made significant investments in their transportation, the Tampa Metro area has fell behind. In order to try to combat these issues, the Florida government along with the city of Tampa have worked together to come up with a solution to the major issue at hand. One major initiative that is going on currently is the Regional Transit Feasibility Plan (RTFP), funded by the Florida Department of Transportation. Essentially this is a transportation plan that spans throughout the entire Tampa and Central Florida region which became a catalyst for a state implementation plan and helped secure the federal funding necessary to begin the project(s). Also in progress is "Tampa Bay Next", which is an infrastructure investment program that will help modernize the interstates and prepare for future transit.

There are plenty of ways Hertz can further their social responsibility initiatives in the Tampa community. Part of Hertz' mission statement is emphasis around protecting our planet, so I think it would be a great opportunity for them to go out and aid the city of Tampa with the various environmental issues going on. Some of the major issues facing the city right now are wastewater pollution, land and use of transportation, and coastal resiliency. Hertz could realize valuable synergies by using their time/money to help promote these environmental issues meanwhile demonstrating to the people of Tampa that they care about the area and are willing to invest in its growth. A specific organization that Hertz and its employees could devote their time to is the "Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful" not for profit, which organizes cleanups throughout the city, raises money for projects, and several other things to aid in the effort of maintaining the cleanliness of Tampa.

Snap-
One sponsorship activity that Snap should consider is using the snap filters in order to promote a certain company. For example they could use a hair product from a company and the filter could show the hair on people's heads super shiny if that is what the goal of the hair product is supposed to do. Another beneficial sponsorship activity Snap can do is use their geographical filters to their advantage. If you are in Tampa and the location pops up on Snapchat, then they should create a sponsorship with certain companies in Tampa to have their name on the bottom of the screen with a link to their store or website in order to help spread the sponsors name as well as Snap's. The employees could get involved volunteering by reaching out to businesses in popular areas on the map that would help benefit Snap's geographical feature and location setting, while also promoting that companies brand. Snap might promote these ideas through their website, Facebook or Instagram in order to get their idea out there and people's thoughts. Having their employees go online to certain websites they think would work well with their snapchat filters and see if they would like to work with them. Also, I think Snap could come up with a story that shows communities volunteering and make it a public story to anyone who uses the Snapchat app. This can help boost their companies name and social reputation because if users see what the employers of Snap does for volunteer work then that will encourage them to think of Snap as a company that gives back and is sincere and cares about their users.