Business: Public Relations and Press Release

The website is http://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/About-JPMC/about-us.htm. The sender is JPMorgan Chase’s public relations and communications department. Looking at the variety and richness of messages heralding the successes and profitability of the bank, it is obvious that the message is intended for a variety of stakeholders like investors, potential investors, shareholders, customers and potential customers, employees and even its competitors. Analyze the integrated business communication.

Integrated business communication is defined as “…the process of planning, executing and evaluating unified messages that create stakeholder relationships and build brand recognition.” (Stuart, Sarow, and Stuart, 2007,p.14) The press release section uses information from public relations, management, organizational changes, marketing and incorporate these into a series of dynamic message that paints a picture of the company as a whole making it possible for stake holders to form a comprehensively positive image of the company. For example, if one looks at the press release of April 25th of 2013, one realizes it heralds through its title “Chase Ranks #1 in Mobile Banking Functionality” a technological milestone that not only places the company ahead of its competitors, but also entices prospective customers who might see this as a plus.

In this particular press release, many stakeholders are targeted at the same time. In another press release dated April 17th 2013 titled “100.000 Jobs mission Announces 64,628 U. S Veterans hired Through First Quarter2013”, the company uses public relations technique to announce its position as an outstanding responsible corporate citizen through offering employment to a target under-privileged group. This particular release serves also as a public relationship announcement to prospective veterans that employment is done on the spot. This is an image building and publicity stunt that also targets a wide variety of stakeholders. Assess the media richness of the section.

To achieve its communication strategy, the company uses both audio and video presentations, emails, news feeds, downloadable data and links to other pertinent information that may be important sources of enrichment to its readers or stakeholders. Of particular interest is its use of webcasts and live feeds or reproduced information that can be viewed live or at the stakeholders’ convenience by way of archived presentations. Describe how the message is framed.

Framing according to Robert Entman is “selecting, and highlighting some facets of events or issues, and making connections among them so as to promote a particular interpretation, evaluation and /or solution”, (Stuart, Sarow, and Stuart, 2007,p.18). This is exemplified in the very setup of the website and the various breakdown of the message into sections, topics, dates in a coherent and easily accessible way through internet access and other communication tools. For example, the topics are arranged beginning with investor relations, financial information, CIO reports, annual report and proxy, shareholder presentations, corporate responsibility to feedback link in frequently asked questions. A cursory look at the table of contents shows that there is a deliberate attempt at presenting a unified message about the company to its stakeholders that paints a bright light, vision and growth with special attention to the shareholders.

Identify opinion leaders.

Opinion leaders that are targeted by the communication are shareholders, prospective employees, employees, customers, prospective customers, government regulators, generally known as stakeholders. Make recommendations for improving word choice.

The choice of words while technically appropriate to its audience, may be confusing to the rank and file customer and investor who may not understand the use of technical words. This is seen in the earnings reports, and other communiqués in the website. I would also recommend that concrete words be used to avoid ambiguity. A more simple but concise language devoid of ambiguity, double meaning laden with cramped up facts and data is recommended considering the targeted audience and general public to whom the message is addressed.