Communications Strategy

A lot of what passes for communications strategy is a mishmash of tactics and truisms. A good strategy rests on knowing what you want to happen.

Given the environment, what needs to change if you are to reach that end state? Then it’s a question of figuring out who in the media and on social media can help you.

A plan tells you how to engage the influencers you need. Evaluation tells you if it is working.

Our experience

Baird’s CMC is a global consulting team of senior management, communications, policy and research professionals with vast experience of helping clients chart out their external communications strategy.

Our team of communications experts around the globe have conducted Twitter and Facebook campaigns to promote new product launches as well as media events for pharmaceutical companies and international foundations. We have helped launch media campaigns, drafted press kits for journalists and organised events to help with crisis management procedures for when things do go wrong.

Baird’s CMC communications experts use qualitative market research techniques to determine what is the best communications strategy to adopt in different circumstances.

Our Work

Baird’s CMC was in charge of drafting communications strategy for South Africa, which was a finalist in bidding for a major technology project. Baird’s CMC helped organise events in Europe, U.S.A and Africa with key stakeholders and the media and also helped journalists in writing accurate, authoritative stories
A major international organisation asked Baird’s CMC to create a communications strategy for journalists as well as story ideas and fact sheets to help increase the profile of pneumonia and diarrhoea, killer diseases of children under five in India. The aim was to highlight the severity of these diseases and the fact that vaccines to combat them are readily available in the private market
Due to regulatory and other issues, a major producer was not able to supply all of the medical products that it was contracted to supply to some clients. This had the potential to negatively affect the client’s brand and reputation and give the opportunity to clients and anti-industry activists to criticise the company and gather negative media attention.

Baird’s CMC assisted the healthcare company in formulating a crisis communications plan to deal with possible negative media attention including training for GMs in working with different kinds of stakeholders in civil society, politics and medicine and having plans in case hostile coverage is more intense than expected – including a guided tour of the manufacturing unit of the company to reporters and a press event

PATH was the lead partner in providing technical support to the Government of India (GoI) and 15 states for the planning and implementation of the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccination programme. Between 2006 – 2009 almost 60 million children were immunised with the JE vaccine, manufactured in Chengdu Institute of Biological Products, China. Media reporting of JE had often highlighted the risks but had sometimes also created unnecessary public anxiety. Much had been unhelpful and was inaccurate; some was probably tainted by domestic commercial interests.

In response, Baird’s CMC helped develop a crisis communications plan that focused on managing communications with the media and with all relevant target groups. Baird’s CMC delivered crisis communications support to the vaccination programme through a wide range of activities that included

Identifying the priorities, concerns, experience and needs of the JE crisis communications plan, in cooperation with GoI health workers, state health departments and those medical professionals implementing the JE vaccination programme
Drafting the crisis communications plan and incorporating input from all participating stakeholder
Devising communications crisis media training programme to support the crisis communications plan
Implementing crisis communications training programme in Mumbai, Lucknow and Delhi with key health care workers
Developing a suite of communications tools to support managers and other health care workers in the management of a crisis situation should it arise including: web site; Q&A documents; backgrounders for media; key contact lists and other resources

You and we may not know some of what we need to know in order to develop a strategy and a plan.

Reliable, professional media, stakeholder and policy research can fill in the gaps.

Only experience and in-depth knowledge can tell you which journalist and social media influencers may help if you make a good case (and which of them will never see your point of view however strong and honest the effort).