2. 2
Contents Page
1. Executive Summary 3
2. Introduction 4
3. Internal Communications 5
a. Staff Meetings 5
b. ‘Tell Tim’ 6
c. ‘My JDW’ 7
4. External Communications 9
a. Banners and Pub Names 9
b. Social Media and ‘My JDW’ Search App 10
5. Conclusion 12
6. Recommendations 13
7. Bibliography 15
8. Appendix 18
3. 3
1. Executive Summary
This.report.outlines.the.effectiveness.of.JDW.internal.and.external.communication.strategies.as
they.stand, whilst also identifying ways in which the company could improve their communication
in the future.
In terms of an Internal Communication strategy, which the firm prioritises, JDWetherspoons focus
on employee integration and involvement, which contributes to the firms ‘two-way
communication’ process. Internally, JDWetherspoons has focused on regular staff engagement,
through weekly staff meetings to help build positive employee-employer relations. As.well.as.this
JDWetherspoons values its intranet, where employee feedback and ideas for improvement are
encouraged. This shows effective internal communication whereby employees have the freedom
of speech, while managers use the facility to communicate between departments, helping to build
a business culture which thrives upon togetherness.
In terms of an External Communication strategy, JDWetherspoons shows less intent to make full
use of all available platforms. Concentrating on social media especially they have focused on
keeping followers entertained, while.offering.both.Facebook.and.Twitter pages, where continuity
helps promote the corporate brand. Also JDWetherspoons have effectively used traditional pub
names to promote the heritage of the brand, associating all platforms of communication with a
‘British Pub Culture.’ Furthermore, JDWetherspoons use banners outside their pubs, which
although have the ability to grasp the passing trades attention, their scope is restricted at this,
where maybe through the use of Celebrity Endorsement and/or a TV advertising campaign the
company could promote brand awareness on a much larger scale.
4. 4
2. Introduction
JDWetherspoons was founded by Tim Martin in 1979 and has taken the struggling UK food and
beverage industry by storm, offering champion cask ales, long opening hours and cheap prices
that has helped to rediscover the industry. The core of the organisation is built across its head
offices in Watford, as well as its 931 pubs throughout the UK, and with over 35,000 employees its
annual sales exceeded £1.5billion in 2014 (Baker, 2015). With this in mind, JDWetherspoons is
recognised as one of the UK’s fastest-growing companies (BMI Research, 2015) where it’s
emphasis on good-quality food and drink at competitive prices, combined with its ‘friendly
atmosphere’ and passionate workforce, the organisation has managed to develop an effective USP
(Hogan, 2015). According to Martin (2002) JDWetherspoons offer the ‘traditional British pub” with
the visions to have “by far the best CQSMA (Cleanliness, Quality, Service, Maintenance and
Atmosphere) standards in the pub world, to be the best company to work for and, by doing these
things, to be the most profitable” (Martin, 2012). Understanding this mission statement, it is
apparent that JDWetherspoons main aim is to communicate their core values to all stakeholders
and in return the company can progress to becoming the most profitable firm in the pub market,
which they are well on their way to achieving. Therefore this report will look closely at the
effectiveness of the firms internal and externally communication strategies which Martin
highlights as a valuable part of JDWetherspoons business plan (Martin, 2002).
5. 5
3. Internal Communications
JDWetherspoons uses predominately internal communication tools throughout their business
model, for example; regular staff meetings, an intranet and an employee voice facility to motivate
employees, engaging them with the corporate visions of the firm (Cornelissen, 2008). The firm
takes pride in its ‘associates’ looking to implement a ‘Two Way Communication’ model, where
both managers and employees ‘voices’ are valued highly, emphasising that ‘mutual respect and
effort’ (Deetz, 2006) is needed to achieve the organisations mission statement.
3.a Staff Meetings
According to Martin (2012) a lot of JDWetherspoons success is down to their employees, who are
driven by a clear brand vision and have established a healthy internal culture which they all thrive
in. Holtz (2004) suggests to get the best out of employees, communication needs to be ongoing,
providing regular and updated information about organisational expectations. JDWetherspoons
have effectively utilised this, introducing weekly communication meetings between Managers and
Employees, where improvement suggestions and performance appraisal topics are covered.
Having regular meetings and encouraging workforce contribution, while making sure all
employees understand ‘what they have to do and how they have to do it,’ helps JDWetherspoons
promote continuity throughout their workforce, effectively aligning all employee behaviours
(Asmuss, 2008) with the visions of the firm. Also having regular meetings gives JDW employees
the opportunity to voice any concerns which they might have, while managers focus on forming
positive relationships with team members, telling them how their involvement is valued, which
ultimately motivates them to succeed. The opportunity of employees to communicate with their
6. 6
managers regularly, in an environment where contributions are encouraged, therefore brings a
workforce closer together, forming employee-employer relationships based around trust, where
a freedom of speech encourages workforce development (Rogelberg et al., 2010). Also on a larger
scale, every month the company holds a ‘BigOperations’ meeting. The purpose of this meeting is
for the senior managers to discuss the company performance. What is significant about this is that
these meetings use a ‘top-down’ communication approach where the owner informs all managers
what he expects to be happening in the company (Smith & Mounter, 2008). Vertical
Communication is effective during this process as it makes sure the understandings of employees
is broadly consistent with the visions of the firm, making it clear to employees what is expected of
them (Bouchikhi & Kimberly, 2007), however it is believed in a firm where a lot depends upon the
performances of bar/watering staff, more cooperative engagement between senior managers and
employees would allow JDWetherspoons to form a more dynamic culture, increasing employees
willingness to offer ideas based upon their real-life encounters (Men, 2014).
3.b ‘Tell Tim’
Although JDWetherspoons ‘BigOperations’ meeting contradicts the organisations strategy of
being a ‘two-way symmetrical’ communication institution, they have introduced an employee
voice facility into their operations where-by employees can electronically give suggestions or
feedback on their experiences in the organisation, guiding corporate decision making. The
software called ‘Tell Tim’ is available to all employees, where they can contact the CEO Tim Martin.
Giving employees a ‘voice’ and the opportunity to engage in management issues, makes them feel
valued and motivates them to work harder (Luchak, 2003). The impact of this software has given
JDWetherspoons a positive communication climate, whereby employees feel more involved with
7. 7
the organisation and a feeling of belongingness increases their commitment to organisational
tasks (Rosenburg & Rosentein, 1980). Also for a firm of this nature where a lot depends upon the
actions of the ‘front of house’ employees, it is crucial to ‘listen’ to their suggestions because often
the best ideas are glaringly obvious in retrospect but may be missed by a higher level manager
who is not interacting with customers daily (Sheets, 2005). Showing the effectiveness of this
system, employees used the ‘Tell Tim’ software to promote their concerns for paper food menus
being used outside, suggesting that a waterproof version would reduce the amount of menus
being ruined. This idea has now become a feature in all JDWetherspoons pubs increasing the
durability of the menus and decreasing waste costs. The significance of this is that
JDWetherspoons recognising employee’s feedback and ideas has benefitted the firm considerably,
increasing the effectiveness of communication channels between employees and managers, while
also increasing employee engagement and retention (Van der Heijden, et al, 2013), shown by the
firms achievement of the 2014 UK Top Employers Award, where the Institute director Eleanor
Nickerson (2015) said, “JDWetherspoons as a company are dedicated to communicating and
offering a rewarding employment experience for its people.” This shows that effective employee
communication has helped the firm to develop a culture which is both stable and enthusiastic to
improve.
3.3 My JDW
‘Tell Tim’ is one of the main facilities of the ‘My JDW’ intranet, which is a private network used by
the organisation to communicate with all its staff, that includes payslips, discounts and training
facilities. JDWetherspoons intranet is accessed and used by its employees on a regular basis,
increasing the knowledge and understanding employees have about the organisation and their job
8. 8
roles (Mockler & Gartenfeld, 2009). After speaking to the Manager at The Tollemache Inn
JDWetherspoons, Grantham, it was recognised that the facility helps connect each pub, employees
and functional department through a conglomerate system approach. For example, the financial
department use My JDW to show pubs performances against their projected targets, offering
suggestions on how performance can be improved. The intranet being used in this way shows that
through digital graphs and creative comparison tools, employees and managers visions are given
a clear direction which ultimately increases their engagement and motivation to surpass
organisational targets (Stenmark, 2003). With this in mind, the intranet helps JDWetherspoons to
promote and integrate its identity across all of its employees using the maximal spread of its digital
reach to bring managers and employees together (Bennett, 2009). Also the intranet involves a live
news update feature that makes sure when decisions are made the workforce are the first people
to receive this information, which is effective as it gives them a sense of satisfaction being the first
point of contact, making them feel a valuable organisational asset (Zinkhan, 2002). What is
interesting about the intranet is that JDWetherspoons have incorporated entertainment concepts
into the overall running of the network, for example they use a weekly prize draw to stimulate
their employees attention, which is a way to engage employees and increases their identification
with the firm. Also it promotes and gives employees the chance to win rewards which keeps
employees entertained. Overall the establishment of the My JDW intranet has helped the firm
streamline all internal communication used within the firm giving employees a single platform to
interact with the company, which they can use as a support mechanism if they need help or an
information network to guide thinking (Belkin, 1991) making them feel an integrated part of the
organisation.
9. 9
4. External Communications
JDWetherspoon have made it clear the main focus of their communication strategy is to address
internal needs (Martin, 2002) meaning the scope of their external communication facilities are
less effective. The external communication tools used focus on social media platforms which
incorporate a smartphone app, pub.banners.and.unique.pub.names which are used to promote
the organisations core values to wider stakeholder groups (Alexandru & Loan, 2013).
JDWetherspoons takes pride in its affordably priced pub culture, with emphasis upon increasing
its customer base and they recognise that their core values need to be understood by the UK
population if they are going to attract more customers.
4.a Banners and Pub Names
Thriving upon the individualism and traditions of its Pub Names, JDWetherspoons uses heritage to
communicate with its customers. Each pub is named after a historic event in the local area or
elements of its name are taken from the previous settlement which it was built upon, for example
Tollemache Inn, Grantham is named after a long standing MP for the town. The use of a themed
message (Shimp, 2003) in every JDWetherspoon pub name gives the company a unique identity
where it has tried to penetrate and reinstate the history of the UK pub culture. This has led to the
firm achieving the largest market share in the industry (32%), where it is seeking to expand its
premises further in the near future. This is effective as using this type of corporate branding
(Schutlz et al, 2005), JDWetherspoons has been able to create an emotional attachment with
customers in the local area, who are more likely to visit their pub as it shows a historical
resemblance which they can identify with. However this may blur the identity of the firm, as using
10. 10
different pub names makes the connection between JDWetherspoon pubs and the company
brand harder to recognise. Also the use of large pub banners has helped JDWetherspoons to
advertise the firm, although they don’t use TV advertising campaigns which would increase the
scope of their external communications, they have used billboards and posters to increase public
awareness. Using large banners outside their pubs promoting special offers is effective as usually
their pubs are in central locations so passing trade is high and the advert will catch the eye of many
potential customers. Also using similarly styled banners at every JDWetherspoons pub is effective
as high frequency of exposure and the ability to cut through a cluttered advertising environment
helps the firm to communicate with a large audience (Riordan & Cannon, 1994). Referring to
Appendix.1 the banner uses contrasting colours as well as large and bold text making it easy to
recognise and read, also it uses a strong and dominant message which involves an amusing tagline
that is accurately suited to the target consumer. This is effective as the simplistic message
immediately gets consumers thinking about how it affects them and how they could use this idea
for future plans, persuading young adults and students especially to make the most of the cheap
prices instead of ‘pre-drinking’ (Bernstein, 1997).
4.b Social Media and ‘My JDW’ Search App
With 94,229 Facebook subscribers and 28.7k followers on twitter, JDWetherspoons has built a
large social media following by which stakeholders expectations for more interactive and
dialogued-based forms of communication have been understood (Cornelissen, 2008: 11).
Significantly, JDWetherspoons operates across both social media platforms effectively, regularly
updating both facilities, with competitions, discount codes and new promotions that keeps
followers entertained and engaged (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Also the page layouts and profile
11. 11
logos are identical, shown in Appendix.2, whereby continuity enhances a brand image, increases
brand awareness and connects all social media products, benefiting from a synergy (Kaplin&
Haenlein, 2010). This is effective as it connects different communication channels of the brand,
therefore consumers can use both Facebook and Twitter interchangeably. Furthermore,
JDWetherspoons social media Platforms focus on seasonal themes and trends to engage their
followers, for example using Christmas promotion tweets, like in Appendix.3 the company
effectively gets their links trending by using a Christmas hashtag, which increases the potential
scope of their advertising campaign. Throughout both forms of social media the messages are
simple and consistent with the brands core values. Using consistent messages strengthens brand
recognition by creating a seamless, compelling experience across all communication channels
(Kotler & Mindak, 1987). Also JDWetherspoons recently introduced my JDWetherspoons app,
which uses the modernisation.of.technology.to.communicate.with its customers. Offering a
smartphone based app, consumers can communicate with the company ‘on the go’ (Krum, 2010).
The effectiveness of this app, with 350,000 downloaders in 2014, is ‘average’ according to the
manager at Tollemache Inn Grantham. He recognised that it is both easy to use and can be a very
helpful tool to find the locations of JDWetherspoons pubs, with the advantage that pub locations
can always be saved on a phone making it easily accessible to the consumer, unlike the split second
interaction when consumers engage with billboards (Azark, 2011). However being a relatively new
feature, the app has received some criticism, with a review rating of 3.7/5, shown in Appendix.4.
JDWetherspoons marketing department have recognised that a lack of app promotion means
currently the amount of consumers using the app is much lower than they want. According to
Anthes (2011) insufficient app promotion means the signal of the communication facility is
12. 12
restricted and this leads to a consumer unawareness, where the apps communication potential is
unexploited. Overall JDWetherspoons has utilised social media facilities effectively,
communicating with a larger consumer audience than that available on traditional media
platforms (Colliander & Dahlen, 2011) and the simplicity of each social media platform makes
them appealing to all age groups.
5. Conclusion
JDWetherspoons prioritises there internal communications strategy, where the effectiveness of
their 3 key facilities; ‘Tell Tim’, My JDW and Staff Meetings, have helped to communicate the
company’s core values throughout the whole organisation. These features have been a success,
recognising that through employee engagement and the use of a two way communication model,
the relationship and communication channels between employees and managers have created a
positive internal communication climate. An internal communication strategy which encourages
contribution and engages all employees, ultimately brings a workforce together (Thomas et al,
2009).
On.the.other.hand, JDWetherspoons external communications strategy is less all-round, although
they use social media and banners effectively reaching a wider audience than one which solely
focuses on passing trade, the breadth of their external communication facilities is less impressive.
According to O'Donohoe (2008) missing the.TV.audience.and.choosing.against celebrity brand
ambassadors restricts the signal of a company’s external advertising campaign. However without
this, the facilities currently used have been able to positively communicate with external
13. 13
stakeholders, leading to the firms overall success during a difficult period for the ‘British Pub’
industry.
6. Recommendations
It appears the internal communications of JDWetherspoons are strong and therefore developing
such features, while understanding the needs of their employees is something which they are
continuously adapting. While externally, the breath of their advertising campaigns are limited to
social media platforms. Introducing a TV advertising campaign, with the potential to reach 25% of
the 31million UK TV viewing public in one hit (Hollis, 2013) JDWetherspoons would benefit from
widespread brand awareness. They could use TV advertisements to promote the firms affordable
food and drink prices, this would help increase the recognition of the JDWetherspoons brand,
outperforming competitors such as Yates who cannot compete on price, helping JDWetherspoons
develop its competitive advantage. Also the UK pub industry is built upon heritage, if
JDWetherspoons was to produce a TV advertising campaign based upon its traditions which
promoted its British values, viewers would be able to identify with the firm, forming an emotional
attachment built upon being ‘British’. Viewers would therefore.see.a.similarity.between
JDWetherspoons values and their own personal morals, which would encourage them to support
their services (Lee, 2009).
Also Canning and West (2000) believe celebrities positively multiply the scope and effectiveness
of an advertising campaign which could also benefit JDWetherspoons. Looking at Iceland and there
acquisition of Peter Andre as a brand endorser, they managed to communicate to the British Public,
14. 14
using a well-liked and well-known celebrity role model, which increased the power and
penetration of their advertising message (Goldsmith et al, 2000). JDWetherspoons looking to use
a celebrity focal figure to promote their brand would help their advertising campaign ‘stand out’
and ‘be remembered’ (Elberse and Verleun, 2012).
Word Count= 2997
15. 15
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