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4.10 Communications and Public Relations |
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In previous sections of this toolkit information has been provided on a range
of “foundation” issues that assist in building and maintaining an appropriate
structure for campaign activities. While communications and public relations
do not affect the structure as such, they should be viewed as integral
components of the overall campaign.
Developing a Communications Plan
The first step in the process is to take a deep breathe and look closely at
what you are trying to achieve. By this stage you should have a good idea of
the type of approach you are adopting; the campaign message; the type of
activities that you may like to pursue; the groups you would like to be
involved with; and key individuals and groups that need to be kept informed.
The next step is to develop an appropriate communications plan that outlines
the range of tactics that can be used to meet your objectives. The
communications plan can be as simple or as detailed as required to capture
your objectives. For some it may be as simple as media relations activities;
while for others it may include a range of activities including community
relations; government relations and lobbying; event management; direct mail
marketing.
The Communication Plan acts as a framework under which all communication
activities are linked together.
Importantly the communication plan should incorporate a range of tactics -
that is activities or tools - that can be used to reach your stated outcomes.
Commonly used communication tools include things such as media releases,
background materials and fact sheets, media conferences, events or
newsletters. The important thing is that different tactics, or combinations of
tactics can be used to communicate with different target audiences in order
to communicate your message.
Objectives
The first stage in developing a communication plan is to thoroughly map your
objectives. These objectives should provide you with clear outcomes and
should state clearly the information you intend to communicate to a specific
target audience. If your objective is to work with 50 schools in a particular
region to incorporate campaign information into the curriculum then this
should be stated clearly as an objective within the communication plan. To be
effective many people recommend taking a SMART approach to the
development of communication objectives. That is the objectives should be: - Specific - provide detail on what you are trying to achieve over a particular period of time;
- Measurable - be able to provide an accurate determination on whether your goals have been met;
- Achievable - provide a goal that is practical to meet:
- Realistic - they must after all be something that can be obtained; and
- Timely - have a timeline in place.
Based on the above school example the objective could be written in the
following manner:
To have 50 schools within the North-west region implement program
activities into the school curriculum over the next two years.
This statement then provides a basis from which to consider the most
appropriate tactics to achieve this objective.
Stakeholders
Building effective campaigns that promote fruit and vegetable consumption is
not done in isolation, but requires coordination and the cooperative support of
other organizations and groups. If you are serious about communicating
effectively and harnessing appropriate support then you need to firstly
identify those groups that share a common interest in your program activities.
These stakeholders are important to the long term success of your program
and overlooking key individuals or organizations can undermine the most
carefully planned program.
Stakeholders can be individuals, companies, non government organizations,
producer bodies or government agencies. To communicate effectively with
stakeholders it is important to tailor common messages that identify their
issues and interests.
Sharing information and involving stakeholders provides a direct opportunity
to widen the scope of the campaign activities. The involvement of
stakeholders allows these individuals and groups to take some collective
“ownership” of the campaign and to share the outcomes with others. In doing
this you gain potential advocates and “product champions” who can further
assist in promoting your campaign message. This approach also helps to
minimize any potential opposition to your campaign from individuals or
groups, who although widely supportive of your campaign objectives, may
take a different approach unless directly involved.
When developing a stakeholder list it is important to not become
overwhelmed with the number of potential individuals or groups that could
become involved with your campaign. Once you have an idea of potential
stakeholders the next step is to develop a priority list based on the degree to
which it is critical that they become involved with the campaign. For some, it
will become apparent that they are crucially important, while for others any
involvement will not be critical to the long term development of the
campaign.
Once you have a list of “key” stakeholders you can then determine the best
way of communicating with them and establishing a cooperative process of
involvement with your campaign.
Target audiences differ from stakeholders in that they are the groups (or
targets) you are trying to communicate with about your campaign. While you
also communicate directly with stakeholders, target audiences do not
necessarily have the same degree of direct involvement with the campaign.
Target audiences are essentially groups of people with similar interests or
demographic characteristics.
In the case of a fruit and vegetables promotion campaign target audiences
could include groups such as: housewives; school aged children; people from
lower socio economic groups in specific regions; different cultural or ethnic
groups; medical professionals; health workers and the general public.
Different messages could be delivered to each of these target audiences in
order to advance the objectives of the campaign. As with stakeholders it is
recommended to again prioritize your target audiences in order to make the
most of your available resources. Quite simply it is not possible to target
every group. A mix of activities and messages targeting specific high priority
audience groups is far more effective than trying to cover all potential
audience members.
Consultation
A previous section of this document outlined the need to identify and
prioritize key stakeholders. The next step in this process is to examine ways
in which you can consult with these stakeholders to order to involve them
more fully in the campaign and the delivery of campaign activities and
messages.
What you are looking for in this process is to establish strong relationships
with stakeholders. It is not a matter of just communicating information but
rather establishing two way communication that takes into account their
views and helps to refine the delivery of the program.
In establishing a consultation plan for each group you will need to consider
issues such as their overall importance to your campaign; the type of
messages that you need to deliver; the best means of delivering these
messages; the most suitable way to communicate – face-to-face meetings,
introductions through a third party to key representatives, direct marketing
materials; appropriate processes for ongoing consultation.
There are a wide range of different tactics that you may wish to consider to
include as part of your consultation plan.
Click the image to enlarge.
Media Relations
One part of your communications / public relations plan will be the
development and implementation of a media relations plan. Like every other
component of this Toolkit, the effective delivery of media related activities
takes a systematic approach, starting with the initial preparation phase and
working through the implementation and evaluation phases of the program.
The initial phase takes into account a number of steps that essentially prepare
you to work with media outlets in communicating your story effectively. This
includes: - Developing an understanding of the potential news angles that may exist as part of campaign activities including campaign launches; release of health related data and reports; localized stories; campaign support from notable companies or people.
- Understanding the needs of media outlets and directing appropriate stories at particular publications / radio and television outlets.
- Ensuring media stories are written professionally (if you don’t have the expertise in house, gain some advice from consultants or study other stories that have been written on health promotion campaigns and activities).
- Make sure the story you are telling is memorable – every story needs to have a “hook” that gets the readers attention and makes then want to keep reading. Just because you are interested in the story doesn’t make it newsworthy.
- Understanding the need to follow up stories and determine where improvements can be made to story ideas and angles.
- Knowing how to prepare correctly when contacted by a journalist by determining the angle they are interested in; the type of media outlet; whether they have essential background information; the deadline for publication and contact numbers for any follow up information.
The implementation phase of the media relations program covers the activity part of the program. The essential elements of this phase include the following:
1. Development of appropriate contact and distribution lists.
While it may seem a fairly basic requirement, a good media contact list is
worth its weight in gold. If you are tempted to develop your list from scratch,
a good place to start is by purchasing access to media directories and guides.
In many instances these guides are available on-line and provide access to
updated contact information across a range of media types. As time goes on
you will expand and modify these lists to identify key contacts from all
relevant publications and media outlets. While there is always a temptation to
blanket media statements in order to maximize publicity, in many cases a
targeted statement will in fact gain more detailed coverage. The key is to
build up knowledge of media outlets and establish relationships with key
journalists whenever possible.
Once you have a list it is essential to keep them updated. While media
directories will provide regular updates, it is important to ensure you know
when key journalists change jobs and make your campaign known to the
incoming journalist.
2. Appointment of a media liaison representative or representatives and
the development of protocols for speaking to the media on behalf of
the campaign organization.
The quickest way to invite “trouble” in the area of media relations is to allow
everyone within the campaign to access the media freely. If you are serious
about developing professional rapport with media it is essential that the
campaign has in place a spokesperson protocol.
This protocol should establish who is able to speak to the media on behalf of
the campaign organization and on what particular issues. The protocol should
also establish who manages the media plan and how this person works with
any spokespeople to ensure they are appropriately briefed on any issues.
The aim of this approach is to ensure that the program delivers clear and
consistent messages to media outlets at all times.
3. Ensuring appropriate media training is provided to key staff members.
No matter how experienced a person is in dealing with the media, additional
media training is always a good idea. For those people who have not dealt
with the media previously media training is a must. Training provides
spokespeople with an appropriate framework to deliver key messages about
your campaign.
4. Ensuring an appropriate process is in place for ongoing media liaison.
When you develop your media relations plan there are a number of different
tactics that can be used to develop ongoing relationships with key journalists
and to gain appropriate media coverage for your campaign. Some of these
tactics include the following: - Campaign launches such as for a new phase of advertising
- Release of research information relating to the campaign
- Announcement of new licensees (such as retailers) participating in the campaign
- Media releases
- News conferences
- Media briefings
- Events designed to showcase campaign activities
5. Ensuring media kits are available at appropriate media opportunities.
A media kit is a useful way of providing background information to journalists
on a range of issues relating to the campaign. While it is not necessary to
prepare a media kit every time you talk to the media, it is a useful resource to
consider for events and for campaign discussion on issues that require an
understanding of background issues and events. Some of the elements of a
media kit can include the following: - Media release
- Fact sheet
- Photograph - high resolution images can be provided on CD
- Corporate material relating to the campaign
- Research reports
- Copies of any relevant speeches
6. Ensure media releases are written in an appropriate style.
As indicated earlier in this document it is critical that the media stories are
written in a professional manner. If you don't have the expertise in-house it
is suggested that you gain some advice from media consultants or by
studying stories that have been written on health promotion campaigns and
activities.
Some of the issues of style it should be considered include the following: - Take time to develop a catchy descriptive heading that summarizes your story and catches attention
- Remember to keep your writing simple so it is able to be understood by the average person - remember to not only say what you want but to explain what it means to the reader.
- Remember the golden rules for journalists which are often expressed as the following statement: "I have six friends who serve me true. Their names are WHAT and WHERE and WHY and HOW and WHEN and WHO. Almost every story in the media answers those six questions so you should ensure your story explains what happened: where it took place: why it occurred: how: when and to whom.
- Use of the inverted pyramid style of writing that places the most
important piece of information first. - Use active language and attribute quotes to an appropriate
spokesperson. - Keep the release short.
- Provide a journalist with contact details for further information and ensure the person listed is available to be contacted.
- Clearly date your media release.
- Proof read the release before it is issued and if necessary have someone else checked the material as well. Once the release is issued it is too late to make any corrections.
7. Make sure the release is distributed in an appropriate and timely
manner.
Once the release is written it is equally important that it is distributed
correctly. When you are developing your media contact list is important to
also determine the most appropriate way to supply information to particular
journalists. Journalists receive a large number of media releases every week
and it is their job to determine which are appropriate to be used in their
publication or media outlet. E-mail is a simple way of distributing media
releases, however there is the very real risk that the release can be lost in a
cluttered inbox. For this reason some journalists still prefer faxes as they
then receive a hard copy of the release on their desk.
If you have the funds you should consider using a media distribution service.
This type of service can often ensure that your media release is delivered
directly to the most appropriate person within an organization (either by email
or fax) and it also offers the opportunity to distribute your media release
through the "wire" service, where it is released directly to senior editorial
staff.
Summary
This section of the Tool Kit presents some ideas on how to plan and
implement campaign communications and public relations activities. It is not
exhaustive, but provides a basic framework that can be adapted and used to
further promote campaign activities. |
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