Assignment 7 - Persuasive Message from Saving Ourselves and Our Planet

Background:

Saving Ourselves and Our Planet (SOOP) is a new non-profit organization, based in Minnesota, whose purpose is to persuade Minnesota-based businesses to sell goods and services that are environmentally and socially friendly. SOOP believes that Minnesota-based businesses should sell goods and services made by companies with a strong emphasis on corporate responsibility.

The Director of SOOP has asked you to create a message about the benefits of selling outdoor clothing and gear made by an environmentally and socially responsible company.

Your Task:

Write a one-page persuasive memo (following the AIDA approach) to send to a Minnesota-based business that sells outdoor clothing and gear and does not have a policy (on its website) regarding environmental and social justice. Your audience for the memo will be the business's COO, and the Director of SOOP will sign the memo. You can expect the COO to distribute it to the other officers for their comments, and those officers might distribute it to their employees for comments. Write the memo so that it tells a story the COO, other officers, and other employees can connect to. Consider adding any missing information, details or logistics that might normally be needed in a real-life situation, and be sure that your analysis (7a) includes your rationale for any changes.

Reminder: This is a two-part assignment; the Persuasive message is #7b, and its Analysis is #7a. Name your files following our course conventions, and place them in the labeled dropboxes.

Content

Please provide thorough, full-text paragraphs in your analysis, formatted with short-phrase headings and double spacing between paragraphs. Bullet points are acceptable; but, please do not use sentence fragments in your paragraphs. The textbook readings have covered sentence and paragraph structure, word selection, and style and tone. I will be looking for good examples of these writing features in your response.

The analysis should consider the following areas and questions (but write your replies in full sentences and coherent paragraphs, not as lists of answers to the questions):

Part 7a

I. Audience

A. Who is the primary and/or secondary audience? Is your audience the decision maker in the situation?

1. What do they know or need to know (i.e., background information)? What is the essential information?
2. What do you want to tell them?
3. What is your relationship with them (e.g., Do you have to establish credibility, or do they already know and respect you as an authority on the topic? How will you establish credibility? Are they your customer or your supplier, etc.?)
4. What demographic information about your audience may be important in this scenario (age, work experience, educational or cultural background, values, gender, etc.)?

II. Purpose of message (Is it routine or good news, negative news or a persuasive message?)

1. What is the main purpose of the message? Is there a secondary purpose?
2. What do you want the reader to do?
3. What do you want the reader to think?
4. What is their reaction likely going to be (pro or con) based on the purpose of the message?

III. Approach selection

A. The purpose of the message determines the approach; does yours require a direct or an indirect approach? Why?

B. What is the rationale for your approach selection, based on the factors presented above?

C. How will your approach affect your message? Where will you place the purpose statement?

D. Persuasive messages have their own approach style; you may want to consider offering an incentive to encourage the action you desire.

IV. Other vital or contributing factors or special circumstances

1. What other factors did you consider as you composed the message? Have you had any experience in a similar situation?
2. What does the reader have at stake?
3. What do you (the writer) have at stake?
4. How will you present the you attitude?
5. How can you present the message with a positive tone?

V. Audience Meta-Analysis

Audience analysis can vary widely based on the context. Sometimes certain elements are more important than others (e.g., When analyzing an online audience, usability, ability, and access might be most important; whereas if your boss is your audience, sounding credible might be most important). Take a minute to think about the transferability of what you learned by writing this meta-analysis.

A. Which questions provided in sections I-IV above are the most relevant for this particular assignment? Why?

B. What questions should be asked about your audience that are not asked in sections I-IV above?

C. In your current job (or in your personal life) have you ever had to write this type of message (routine, bad news or persuasive) and do you think an audience analysis would have been helpful for you? Why or why not?

D. Beyond written communication, when else do you see an audience analysis being helpful when delivering this type of message (routine, bad news or persuasive) in your work or personal life?