Summary
HP is an electronic manufacturing company established in 1947 in California, the United States. The firm mainly deals in digital imaging, printing, computing, and software and hardware development. Since its incorporation in 1957 by Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett, the company has grown tremendously in market size and product diversity. Its success has primarily been demonstrated through technological developments and high profitability. Like all other manufacturing firms, the company’s operations pose great threats to the environment. Indeed, environmental concern has recently emerged as a global issue that has forced governments, conservationists and green advocates to call for a complete overhaul of different manufacturing practices.
Electronic manufacturing companies such as HP have been notorious for producing e-wastes that has devastating impacts on the environment. Indeed, consumers’ use and disposal of these kinds of wastes have been associated with adverse impacts on the environment and the health of flora and fauna. To ensure that it addresses these concerns, HP must commit to taking deliberate actions that will drastically minimize the impacts of e-wastes on people and the environment. Incidentally, recycling has been proven to be one of the most effective ways to achieve this. To this end, HP maintains a robust recycling program, particularly in its Britain subsidiary. Part of the activities of this program is the sensitization of consumers on e-waste and the recycling of computers and their components. This paper will provide a public relations campaign for the HP recycling program present in Britain.
SWOT Analysis of HP Recycling Campaign Program
Strengths
- Presence of e-waste management rules and regulations in Britain that applies to all producers and consumers.
- Growing need to conserve the environment among the Britain population.
- Growing need of refurbished computers and laptops
- Increasing appetite for electronics made from recycled materials among the British population.
- Job creation- the process of recycling e-wastes engages enormous manpower needed in the collection, manual dismantling, packaging, segregation, and transportation. Thus, the campaign initiative will have a huge demand
Weaknesses
- E-waste handling is mostly handled using the informal route, which is characterized by poor technological processes
- Lack of accurate data that can accurately tell the exact quantity of e-wastes generated in the UK
- Low levels of consumer awareness about the dangers associated with poor handling of electronic wastes in Britain.
- Poor policies of implementation
- Absence of relevant legislations for electronic wastes disposal
- High costs associated with e-wastes sourcing
- Lack of research on the impacts of recycling campaigns in creating awareness among consumers and industry players
- Lack of incentives schemes such as guidelines on how to conduct the recycling campaigns by the UK government
Opportunities
- Huge gap between the current recycling initiatives and the ideal situation of proper e-waste recycling. This creates a good opportunity to design campaign messages that have direct targets.
- Urban mining has a big scope, which create ample opportunities for the project
- Reusable e-wastes can be donated to others, especially those in developing countries, to bridge the digital divide and enhance IT literacy
- E-commerce take back program can be used to collect e-wastes
- There is an opportunity to earn Carbon credits using formal recyclers
- HP can approach funding organizations to fund its campaign initiatives ad help drive the agenda further
- Informal sector can be brought on board to ensure sustainability of the process.
- There is an opportunity to issue e-cards to customers and add them points if they surrender their e-wastes to HP.
- Partnering opportunities with the UK government and other entities.
Threats
- Consumer behavior- not many British consumers are keen on adopting proper e-wastes disposal mechanisms
- Most electronic gadgets’ average lifespans have been on constant reduction
- There is massive illegal trading in e-wastes that will affect the success of the campaign
- The process of e-waste recycling produces such toxic chemicals as mercury, zinc, and lead, which end up polluting the surrounding water and soil. This will affect the publics’ perception of the practicality of the recycling initiative.
- High costs- it will earn a seller more money to sell a new laptop than to sell refurbished ones. This can drive negative campaigns against the recycling program.
- Used computers contain previous owners’ sensitive and personal information such as their bank account details. The campaign can, thus, be viewed as an opportunity for fraud by unscrupulous people.
- Recycling will also pose threats to the brand of HP due to the possibilities of installing poor functioning systems.
Problem to Be Solved
Resources need to be conserved by HP by recycling the various computer parts, printer parts, or other parts of products manufactured by HP. The good thing is that most of the products HP manufactures have inbuilt recycling options, making it easier for the consumers to aid HP in recycling these products. Britain is one of the locations where HP is focused on ensuring the successful recycling of its products, and it’s also an important market for HP. For the recycling of these products by HP to be successful, different recycling centers have partnered with HP. The company has to ensure that the consumers and the various stakeholders in Britain are aware of the various ways of recycling the HP products and the specific locations of recycling selected by HP. Therefore, the consumers in Britain have to be sensitized by HP on the recycling of the HP products through the different approaches (Kahlert, 2019). The world is also in need of green practices that can aid in preventing negative impacts on the environment or causes of global warming. Thus, the world needs Sustainability, and HP has to be involved in recycling its products.
Reasons to Recycle HP Computer and Printer Parts
The nature of materials used in the production of HP computers and other products has been identified as dangerous to the environment. Various parts of the company’s devices are manufactured through different chemicals, some of which have detrimental effects on the environment. Such calls for the recycling of these parts and gadgets to protect the environment in Britain since the pollution of the atmosphere can cause global warming due to improper disposal of these parts and gadgets by consumers in Britain. (Kahlert, 2019) Hence, with proper disposal, these computer and printer parts can be safely extracted by the various HP recycling centers to ensure that no or minimal damage is caused to the environment by these parts.
Recycling the various HP devices and parts helps in natural resources conservation since the various HP recycling centers will extract plastics and various metals that the firm can use in manufacturing other computers or printers or can be sold to be used by other companies as raw materials. Consequently, recycling these parts saves the company from mining the raw materials. Furthermore, recycling HP devices parts results in employment promotion since various people will get jobs by working as recyclers or collectors of these computer and printer parts. Hence, companies that recycle these products can easily create employment opportunities for residents living in Britain, thus promoting the economy of Britain. Moreover, other machines can be reassembled by HP through the various electronic parts that HP has recycled in Britain (Kahlert, 2019). Britain’s economy can also be saved by recycling since consumers in Britain can get new HP electronics by trading them with their old ones as a form of recycling in the various retail shops.
The Campaign Plan
Social media is one of the latest marketing and campaign tools that companies rapidly adopt. Sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok are very famous, especially among the youth. Therefore, campaigns carried out through these platforms are more likely to reach as many people as possible. HP will use social media to promote recycling in Britain and sensitize and provide information to the public in Britain to witness success in recycling the HP products. Social media will be an appropriate tool since the world is currently in an internet age, and people mostly use and communicate through different social media platforms. Thus, HP will outsource the service of creating videos on recycling which will touch on different important segments and areas (Kahlert, 2019). Therefore, the company will share these videos on different social media platforms used by the residents in Britain and regularly used by the people targeted by such information.
Therefore, the videos created will have to be fun and centered on the message being passed across by HP. Through such an approach, all the objectives of HP will easily be met by these videos since they will pull almost all strings. The videos will showcase two sides of the environment, and the first aspect will show a healthy and green environment with no HP products disposed of carelessly. On the other hand, the second aspect will show an unhealthy environment with many printer or computer parts carelessly disposed of. These videos will have simple, clear, and fun messages that are easier for Britain residents to comprehend. The contact information will include various toll-free hotlines that can be used by residents in Britain who need any clarifications on the recycling of the HP products or who need any assistance.
Additionally, the firm will also make good postures that will touch on recycling various products. These posters will be strategically placed in the major institutions in Britain like schools, stadiums, halls, government offices, and public hospitals, among others. These locations will be ideal since many people mostly visit them. A good example is the stadiums that people can visit during different events like sports and political events, among others. Billboards will also be used to pass the messages on recycling HP products, and this is also a good place as all the people using the public areas like roads will be able to see and decipher the messages.
Target Market
The HP will be targeting people from different sectors in Britain. Some of them include local retailers and different users belonging to the middle and upper classes who possibly possess various HP products which HP should recycle. Other target markets include stakeholders like schools, hospitals, stadiums, halls, and government offices, facilitating information spread to the general public. Environmental conservationists are also part of the target market as their influence in the recycling process is paramount.
SMART Objectives
There are many objectives related to the HP recycling program. One of these is that within the six months of the operation of this program, HP should have reduced the amounts of its waste from the environment by thirty-five per cent. Another objective is to sensitize the public about recycling for maximum public involvement and cooperation. The recycling program should last for six months, whereby it should have achieved its goals and objectives as far as recycling in Britain is concerned. Another objective is to prepare a good portion of the recyclable products for reuse in the future. The last objective of the program is to reduce at least five kilograms of HP products waste from the Britain environment. The recycling campaign initiative will be required to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. This means that in a span of 6 months, the campaign is expected to have reached 15 million UK consumers and persuade them to consider the program as a viable option.
Piece of Creative Media
Timescale
HP will do the sensitization and awareness creation for six months with the aid of the press and the stakeholders, as mentioned earlier, to ensure the success of the process. Additionally, actual recycling will also be done simultaneously within six months to reduce the amount of HP products present in the British environment as waste. The main objective of sensitization and recycling simultaneously is to let people learn from life experiences.
Event Plan
Likewise, HP will also plan different dates where the actual recycling of the products will be done by the officials belonging to will be taken by HP. Hence, the press will also inform the public about the dates of the recycling program so that many people can be present and participate. HP will also use different stakeholders during the actual event. Some of them include boy and girl scouts, who can easily interact with different members of the society on the benefits and importance of recycling the various HP products.
The benefit of using scouts is that they can reach many people in the society, including the isolated areas, since they have a good comprehension of different places in Britain. The use of scouts also provides an increased outreach to the public and may reach people who were not reached by the press, social media, or the various posters placed by the company. Also, the scouts will have posters made by HP, which they will hand out to people as they sensitize them on recycling.
Thus, after each recycling session, the organization will use the press to announce the total amounts of parts and computers led in Britain, which will be done uninterruptedly. Hence, the public will be motivated to provide a helping hand on the great quest of facilitating recycling. Before and after pictures of the areas of Britain that have been contaminated by the disposal of printers and computer parts will be taken by HP. Such will provide a clear contrast of the effects of non-recycling of electrical parts on the environment. These pictures will also be presented to the press by HP for airing and will facilitate the recycling process.
Proposed Budget
Press Release
Hewlett-Packard Press Release
Hewlett-Packard Press Releasehp to Conduct Recycling Sensitization and Programs in Britain Over the Next 6 Months
HP is a leading electronic manufacturing company engaged in digital imaging, printing, computing, and software and hardware development. One of our key pillars is to ensure that we operate in a sustainable way. Towards this end, we are pleased to announce that it will be conducting a sensitization program about Sustainability, which will be performed by recycling its products from April 15, 2022, to October 15 2022. The major focus of this campaign will be How to Achieve A Green Environment and Sustainability in Britain. The American hip-hop star Kendrick Lamar is expected to perform on the program’s launch date. You are kindly invited to attend the launch, which will occur at Square Park and fully participate in the entire program.
Mass Media Campaign Plan
Mass media platforms such as television, radio, and newspapers will be used to drive the recycling campaign. Although social media has gained tremendous popularity over the past decade, there is a considerable number of British citizens who still rely on mass media as their preferred source of information and entertainment. Therefore, well-designed posters and campaign messages will be channeled through these platforms to specifically target this demographic. The messages will mainly focus on the dangers posed by e-wastes to the environment and the need to recycle them.
Social Media Plan
In addition to the mainstream mass media, the company will also use social media platforms to change people’s perceptions about recycling. One way to ensure such is by sharing pictures of successfully recycled HP products. These can include recycled computers that are once again functional, and such will motivate people to engage more in the recycling of HP products. Furthermore, social media is commonly known as a place where different challenges are posed to people, and people compete by doing them (Kahlert, 2019). Therefore, HP will create different recycling challenges like a minimum waste challenge, which will ensure that five kilograms of HP product waste are reduced from the Britain environment every week.
Consequently, different social media users in Britain will post the amounts of waste they have collected from the environment, and HP awards those with the highest amounts every week. HP will also use celebrity endorsements to better and effectively promote recycling through social media. Selecting the celebrity to use will largely depend on the effectiveness of the celebrity in moving the masses through social media and the funds that HP has since the celebrity cannot possibly provide endorsement without being paid.
In some cases, the celebrity will be used by HP to give the winners of the recycling challenge their awards. Such is a form of motivation to the Britain residents who possibly dream of meeting or having a picture with the celebrity. Through such an approach, many people will personally engage in recycling and help HP eliminate its waste from the British environment. Moreover, before using social media as a tool for creating awareness and propelling the recycling process in Britain, HP will analyze the demographics of Britain, and such includes knowing the most prominent and most used social media platforms in Britain.
Reference
Kahlert, A. (2019). Leadership and change management: A case study of HP. München GRIN Verlag.