The modern standard of living puts forward new requirements for the health, the appearance of a person, as well as the level of service offered. Striving for the best is a kind of condition for the survival of people in the third millennium. One of the global trends in the modern economy is the dynamic growth of the services market. The service sector has a very noticeable impact on the level and quality of life of society. The structure of the domestic services market is undergoing significant changes. The role of service industries is constantly growing, work in service companies is becoming more prestigious, meeting the requirements of international and European standards. However, despite the positive dynamics in the development of the service sector, consumers often encounter poor-quality service
PR in the Beauty Sector
The modern standard of living puts forward new requirements for the health, the appearance of a person, as well as the level of service offered. Public Relations (PR) is mainly focused on building the communication bridge between people and a company (Smith and Puczko, 2018). Thus, its role is to ensure that there is an unhindered flow of information. However, marketing is a unique strategic approach to deliver the message of a firm about its product or services by outlining various features and advantages. Advertising is a tool to increase the overall awareness about the given company and its products. Another key difference is the fact that advertising is biased and paid beforehand. Examples of PR activities are events, campaigns, press releases, speaking engagements, newsletters, social media, and advertorials. Therefore, it is highly important to avoid PR crises because one bad comment can potentially ruin the brand image. It is especially true nowadays because the competition is fierce and the success of a SPA is determined by its reputation in social media. Thus, the PR person should be aware of the current media environment, and take careful and deliberate actions to minimize negative feedback.
However, despite the positive dynamics in the development of the beauty sector, consumers often encounter poor-quality service. PR activities can be considered as a set of planned events, which promote the development of a company’s image in the media and social communication platforms (“SPA Management Courses”, 2017). The primary advantage lies in the fact that the given activities allow expressing a company’s professionalism. However, the main disadvantage is the general formality, which might limit a firm’s communication style (Macnamara, 2016). Trends are mostly chaotic and unpredictable tendencies of the market to shift its focus from one product to another for a certain period (Smith and Puczko, 2018). Service problems are typical enough for any complex business. High-quality service requires highly skilled workers, and significant funds must be spent on training this staff.
A person in a beauty service plays a threefold role: as a specialist technologist, as a seller of service, and as a part of a service product itself. Due to the presence of the human element, it becomes much more difficult to achieve stability in the formulation of the service, and it complicates the task of managers. Thus, PR plays an essential role in crisis management issues because it allows eliminating various rumors and miscommunications by delivering a constructive message. Legal implications of PR are manifested in the fact that legislative procedures factor in and prioritize Public Relations as a critical part of a company’s representation. PR is the most formal and reliable type of communication between people and firms (Brown, 2019). Today, all countries of the world are concerned with the problem of improving the quality of production, including the creation of services. A positive result of improving the quality of service products is essential for all parties involved. A high level of service avoids the additional costs associated with the correction of previously made errors.
PR Campaign
PR has been successfully applied in the service sector because it was seldom used in everyday services. To design a specific PR event, it is crucial to define it. The PR campaign is a process designed to help others evaluate services, evaluate what customers are doing and how they are doing. The main goal of PR for beauty and hair services is to help the client to appreciate the offers of the organization (Jordan, 2019). The most challenging aspect of the given PR event is to create favorable conditions for the provision. The intangibility of services, elusiveness, or intangible nature means that it is impossible to demonstrate, see, try before receiving these services.
The beauty PR event will not be made for future use, because in any service delivery activity, the buyer is, to one degree or another, a participant in this process. The quality of the service pretty much depends on who provides it. When organizing PR activities, it is necessary to take into account the needs of customers. Therefore, in the competition and coordination for consumers, manufacturers should inevitably come to the service support system (Smith and Puczko, 2018). The purpose of the PR campaign will focus on ensuring the protection of intellectual property, increasing competitiveness, achieving scientific priority and international recognition, and turning scientific achievements into innovative products.
Objectives
The target market will be the beauty and hair sector, where the primary goal is to form and develop a positive communication flow without any barriers of mistrust and disturbance. The results of recent research studies characterize the beauty services market as dynamic, rapidly growing, as evidenced by the development of salons, beauty centers, aesthetics and health, studios, clubs (Jordan, 2019). Thus, it can be stated that the success of the demand for hairdressing and cosmetic services is stably programmed. The key message will focus on the importance of high-quality service in the beauty sector. The key reasons for such situations include the management crisis and sometimes a misunderstanding of the service component of this business, its significance, and practical implementation.
The primary strategy is to integrate a highly constructive communication bridge, where reciprocal tactics will be used. The importance of human resources for the service industry is evident and is associated primarily with the personal participation of the employee in the process of providing the service and his or her direct contact with the client (Macnamara, 2016). At the enterprises of the salon business, fragmentation is observed, there is no integrated system for providing quality service as an effective sales tool that provides a sustainable competitive advantage.
In the modern world, it is impossible to take business lightly and pay less attention to quality than to financial calculations and marketing research. The overall timescale should be five months because studies suggest that it is the most optimal period for company image building (Macnamara, 2016). However, there will not be a wide range of activities implemented because the given PR campaign will focus on simplicity and reciprocity. In the beauty industry, understanding the issues of clientele analysis, the quality of customer service, knowledge of the laws, and principles of customer service is of particular importance. Thus, the potential risks might include high levels of formality and limitation of outlining more complex topics. The primary approach will focus on the concept of DISK, which provides for dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness (“SPA Management Courses”, 2017). These elements will assist in setting up an effective PR campaign, which will adequately express organizational values.
Ethics
The provision of public relations requires high costs, but the practice of advanced service companies proves that they will pay off many times due to increased customer satisfaction, preservation, and growth of the customer base, and increased sales and profits. Behind the success of most service enterprises, such as beauty salons, hairdressers, and studios, is the commitment to integrate service strategies into enterprise strategies effectively. Successful implementation of a professional service strategy, its sales, contributes to an increase in profit and profitability exponentially while minimizing advertising and marketing. Service salon business requires constant and relentless attention (Macnamara, 2016). Customer service programs must change with changing customer needs and requirements. Managers and ordinary employees of beauty industry enterprises should become creators and inventors of the service, that is, come up with new ideas and implement them.
It is highly important to abide by PR ethics and Codes of Practice because they ensure trust development. The main reason is the fact that if an instance of unethical behavior is spotted in social media or any information source, it will permanently ruin the company’s name and brand. It is especially true during the modern age of the internet and social media because any misdeeds and unethical practices can be exponentially exposed resulting in a legal investigation. In addition, it is not sustainable to continuously deceive people, because it will be addressed by one person or another. Modern managers of beauty industry enterprises need to set the goal of treating customer service as a long-term strategy along with other business strategies. The PR ethics strategy requires an unflagging commitment of management and staff support for a long time if they need to increase customer loyalty to beauty salons is provided. It is also necessary to state that the success of Codes of Practices is determined to a greater extent by desire rather than ability (Macnamara, 2016). Public relations service is like a first-class striker, and when he or she enters the field, the rest of the players begin to play better, and the whole team wins.
Finances
The financial statement should include the overall budget and return on investment. It is important to note that various factors will change the values, but the allocated investment will roughly be 10% of the gross annual income (Macnamara, 2016). Thus, if the salon or beauty shop makes $250000 a year, the budget of PR will be $25000. In addition, the overall return on investment is estimated to be 12%, because it is an average value for public events. However, it is not possible to determine and predict a specific amount due to the intangibility of the PR (Macnamara, 2016). Therefore, the quality service of beauty industry enterprises is the concentration of all resources and employees of the enterprise on increasing customer satisfaction. It is all employees, and not just those who directly communicate with the client.
The event or campaign would most likely require around $5000 due to its medium size. The leaflets will be printed beforehand and the cost will be around $500 because they will be uniquely designed. The food will cost around $1000-1500 because some expensive foods will be included to appear more luxurious and uplift the brand of the given SPA salon. Another $1000-2000 will be allocated for the staff, such as coffee baristas, bartenders, waiters, technicians, and presenters. The remaining money will be spent on miscellaneous things, such as banners and decorations. The main topic of the evening will focus on the new SPA salon and how it is different from other rivaling ones. The advantages will be highlighted as strongly as possible and many discount offers will be presented to lure people to the SPA and the event. However, their certain risks regarding the campaign, because a minor failure or incompetence could ruin the image of the SPA. For example, unprofessionalism of the staff or food poisoning can easily ruin the event’s primary goal and brand name.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the PR element is in everything that every employee in the enterprise does, because in the end, any activity affects the real or perceived quality of the service purchased by the client. The main functions of the PR are the preservation of existing customers, attracting new customers, and creating the need for all customers to continue cooperation with the company and enterprise. The following tasks of PR are distinguished, such as maintaining a customer base and its development. Customer perceptions of quality service have radically changed today. It includes a convenient location, a wide range, leadership in the product group, and sometimes competitive prices. However, the underlying nature of service has remained unchanged. Customers want courtesy, product knowledge, help, and enthusiasm from company employees. The orientation of the company’s course to first-class PR service helps to increase the efficiency of the enterprise and its competitiveness.
Reference List
Brown, Kristi. “31 Creative Spa Marketing Ideas to Attract More Customers 2019.” FitSmallBusiness. 2019, Web.
Jordan, Wendy. “Retailers Can Benefit from a Strong Public Relations Campaign.” PSN. 2016, Web.
Macnamara, Jim. “The Continuing Convergence of Journalism and PR: New Insights for Ethical Practice from a Three-Country Study of Senior Practitioners.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 93, no. 1, 2016, pp. 118–141.
Smith, Melanie, and Laszlo Puczko. Health Hospitality Tourism. Thompson Press, 2018.
“SPA Management Courses.” Spa Education Academy. 2017.