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Effective communications. Arendal, October 2001. What do you do?. Collate and process best environmental information to inform Governmental decision-makers intergovernmental decision-makers civic society organisations media general public. Stakeholders. Formal beneficiaries
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Effective communications Arendal, October 2001
What do you do? • Collate and process best environmental information to inform • Governmental decision-makers • intergovernmental decision-makers • civic society organisations • media • general public
Stakeholders • Formal beneficiaries • Governmental decision-makers • intergovernmental decision-makers • civic society organisations • media • general public • Informal beneficiaries • Staff • Funders
Your mission “GRID-Arendal provides environmental information, communications, and capacity-building services for information management and assessment. Established to strengthen UNEP, our focus is to makecredible, science-based knowledge understandable to the public and to decision-making for sustainable development.”
Q:“What do we need to communicate well?” A:“Commitment and knowledge”
What awareness can breed... Personal awareness Personal committment Failure Desire to convert “Oh Gawd what a bore!” Talk talk talk
Communicating for change Personal awareness Personal committment Learning “You understand me so well! I want to trust you.” Desire to convert Listen listen listen
Inform vs. communicate “I have an issue and I want you to hear about it” “You have an issue and I want to help you with it”
Foundation for success • Their needs • Primary: • Better world • Secondary: enlightenment • Ignorance of issues • Ignorance of solutions • Apathy • Hopelessness • ... • Tertiary: systemic • Resources • Operational issues • ... • Your commitment • Values • Awareness • Knowledge • Information • Skills • Resources • Reputation • ...
? • Their needs • Primary: • Better world • Secondary: enlightenment • Ignorance of issues • Ignorance of solutions • Apathy • Hopelessness • ... • Tertiary: systemic • Resources • Operational issues • ... • Your commitment • Values • Awareness • Knowledge • Information • Skills • Resources • Reputation • ...
Their needs • Primary: • Better world • Secondary: enlightenment • Ignorance of issues • Ignorance of solutions • Apathy • Hopelessness • ... • Tertiary: systemic • Resources • Operational issues • ... • Your commitment • Values • Awareness • Knowledge • Information • Skills • Resources • Reputation • ... Relevance
Aiming for relevance • Their need Your Objective
Communications planning Communications planning is the process by which a core objective is matched to the needs of your audiences in order to develop a communications campaign that will lead to measurable change among those audiences
CORE OBJECTIVE COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES AUDIENCES NEEDS STRATEGIES MESSAGES TACTICS A planning framework
What are core objectives? • Sell more widgets • Win funding for a project • Get her to marry me • Diminish the anthropogenic greenhouse effect They are your ultimate goals
Audiences • Sell more widgets Suppose the widget is a moped • Audiences: • Teenagers • Boys • Girls • Parents • Commuters • Male • Female • Retailers
Audiences • Win funding for a project • Audiences: • Your board (if the project is a radical departure from accepted activities) • Your manager (to win the right to prepare a proposal) • Your colleagues (to get their help) • Other staff (to get their support) • Professional contacts (to sing your praises) • The technical evaluators • The financial evaluators
Audiences • Get her to marry me
Influencing audiences • Their needs • Primary: • Better world • Secondary: enlightenment • Ignorance of issues • Ignorance of solutions • Apathy • Hopelessness • ... • Tertiary: systemic • Resources • Operational issues • ... • Your commitment • Values • Awareness • Knowledge • Information • Skills • Resources • Reputation • ... Relevance
? • Their needs • Primary: • Better world • Secondary: enlightenment • Ignorance of issues • Ignorance of solutions • Apathy • Hopelessness • ... • Tertiary: systemic • Resources • Operational issues • ... • Your commitment • Values • Awareness • Knowledge • Information • Skills • Resources • Reputation • ...
CORE OBJECTIVE COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES AUDIENCES NEEDS STRATEGIES MESSAGES TACTICS T E S T
Moped: All Transport solution Good buy Teenagers Street credibility fashionable Parents Safe Reliable Good value Project Employer use resources wisely grow the organisation enhance reputation mission-relevant Funder Safe decisions Best return Be seen to get results mission-relevant secure future income Audience needs
Relevant communications objectives • Sell more widgets • build brand awareness, link to current fashion, gain street credibility, recognition as most reliable, best quality... • Win funding for a project • build reputational awareness, seriousness of procedures, originality of approach, value of consultants... • Get her to marry me • Diminish the anthropogenic greenhouse effect
Strategies Objectives Insights Resources
Strategies • Moped • Standard three-wave campaign with refresher • Wave 1: launch, style mags, reviews • Wave 2: TV, style mags, sponsorships • Wave 3: TV, style mags • Refresher: Point of sale promotion • Project • Endorser campaign • Identify & enlist supporters
Messages • Translate your communication objectives into audience-relevant messages • Ensure messages fit strategic framework
CORE OBJECTIVE COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES AUDIENCES NEEDS STRATEGIES MESSAGES TACTICS T E S T
Tactics • The creative elements of your campaign • The mix of tools you will use for your campaign: • Advertising • TV, radio, online, daily, magazines? • Direct mail • Online • Viral marketing • Public relations • Media relations • Events • Sponsorships • Alliances • Etc.
Preventing a merger • Client: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu • Objective: prevent big 6 mergers • Audience: EU and US competition authorities • Needs: respect for decisions • Comms objectives: these mergers will be anti-competitive • Strategy: Enlist CFO opposition • Message: “will you be audited by your competitors?” • Tactic: CFO market research, media placement in press read by Van Miert and Kantor
Raising public awareness • Client: Tacis • Objective: raise environmental awareness of general public • Audience: general public • Need: high quality TV escapism • Comms objective: combat apathy • Strategy: help TV programmers source cheap programmes • Message: “you can change things” • Tactic: source, dub and distribute specially selected films through network of video libraries
Marrying Mammon and Greenery • Client: Unilever Zhongguo • Objective: best position to sell in Chinese hinterland once villagers have money (est. timescale 3-6 years) • Audience: non-coastal Chineses public • Need: help with “great leap forward” consequences • Comms objective: Unilever cares for China • Strategy: Support tree-planting efforts in eroding watersheds • Message: “Green mountains for clear water” • Tactic: working with CEPA and SSB to source and plant 100,000s of Unilever-labelled seedlings
Marrying Mammon and health • Client: Smithkline Beecham • Objective: sell more nicotin-replacement therapy products • Audience: smokers aged 18-35 • Need: a good reason to quit • Comms objective: cigarettes have immediate drawbacks to your sex life • Strategy: 360° campaign highlighting link between smoking and impotency, infertility etc. • Messages: “Can you still get it up?” • Tactics: sexy celebrities, boomerang cards, alliances, free condoms with NRT packs...
For example…industrial automation (!) CORE OBJECTIVE • Increase sales • Build brand awareness • Establish best-in-class reputation • Serious, reliant on objective data points and analysis • Productivity-boosting business consultants COMMUNICATIONS OBJECTIVES AUDIENCES Senior executives Operation, IT & plant managers Engineers & eng. mgmt Sales force & SSG sales • Competitive advantage • Proven best in class • Productivity-enhancing • Biggest change in mftg in decade • Supported by research (sponsored) • Productivity • Reliability • Integration • Support • Sponsored research • Reliability • Maintenance • Installation • Control • Support • Significant evolution/ radical change • Integrated business solution • Best-in-class STRATEGIES/MESSAGES • Peer contacts • Biz press • Partners • Trade press • Trade shows • Seminars • VFT • 3rd party endorsers • Sector-specific collateral • Sector-focussed training • “Consultant” development • Sector-specific collateral • Online chat & support • Senior RA exec contacts • Senior partners • Biz press • Events (WEF etc) • RA exec events • 3rd party endorsers • Sector-specific expertise: consultant reports • Trade shows • Trade press • Sales force • Partners • Training events • Demo visits • 3rd party endorsers TACTICS
So, in practice • Communications team: • Project manager • Creative • Traffic controller • And,if needed,specialists • Media buyers, schedulers, copywriters, etc.
The salesman’s tricks • Reciprocation - “A present? Thanks! Now I owe you something.” • Consistency - “I promised you something. I must keep my word.” • Social validation - “what is that fool doing?” versus “Oh. I wonder what all these people are doing.” • Liking - “gee, we have the same birthday!” or “he complimented me on my tie” or “he worries about my environment” • Authority - that tie… • Scarcity - the rarer the item, the more people want it. Exclusivity…
A planning framework CORE OBJECTIVE Reduce the transport footprint in Arendal AUDIENCES Politicians 16-18 yr olds families For-profits (retailers, transporters, employers) Get re-elected Keep jobs & status in A NEEDS Accessibility Make money Unique environment satisfies citizens and attracts unique people - ensure transoprt strategy preserves this Safety and opportunity Freedom & independ. Options COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES Educate biz Increase user demand Support bikes, night buses etc Demand access Enlist CoC Lobby STRATEGIES centre good for biz clean transport too “do you want your mom to pick you up?” Keep A attractive for the best workers & tourists MESSAGES Hard data (univ) study tours ed campaign media relations ecolabel • Mkt research & media (developers) • direct (maps (bus/bikes/foot)) • accessibility guidance (real estate agents) • Indirect (media, mkt research) • direct lobbying (expl., site vists) • create activist coalition TACTICS Cost-benefit analysis • European Common indicators per capita, weighted by demographic info • Transpor satisfaction survey • map impact survey • Survey on biz awareness EVALUATION
Thank you Patrick.worms@ogilvy.be 33 rue du Progrès B - 1410 Waterloo Tel +32 495 24 46 11 Fax +32 2 545 6610