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CLIENT CASE STUDIES
- BOROUGH COUNCIL |
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Local authority COMMITS TO
IMPROVING COMMUNICATIONS
Mantra
delivers clarity and focus to communications
Clearer focus, more clarity in messages, simplified design
and tighter control on buying services are the main areas
of improvement identified in an in-depth communications
audit conducted by Ipswich Borough Council. In addition,
steps being taken as a result of the recommendations of
the audit professionals mean that significant savings
could be made through improving the efficiency and
effectiveness of communications.
“Every organisation should take a hard and fearless look
at its communications to make sure they are up to the
highest standards. What may once have been a coordinated
campaign can easily drift over time, losing focus and
consistency. An independent study can also identify areas
where performance and cost effectiveness could be
improved,” believes Terry Hayward, Director of Ipswich
Borough Council.
Mr Hayward points out that communications is core to
relationships with all stakeholders in the community.
From his experience, even the very best work by employees
and officers will not be valued if the results are not
being effectively presented. And, equally important,
effective communications should work two ways so that
council executives are always monitoring the perceptions
and understandings of everyone they serve across their
regions.
“We decided to check how well we were doing in this
important area. Our first step was to find the best
professionals with the experience and the techniques to
look closely and without bias at our communications
overall. We commissioned Mantra, who presented their
recommended approach.”
The Mantra team, under the direction of Chairman Brian
Moore, proposed a full-scale evaluation of all public
relations, advertising and publicity materials, including
the council’s website. Mantra would also evaluate the
delivery of messages and how these were used across the
communications materials.
The local media coverage was analysed to measure the ratio
between positive and negative copy. The study would also
check the profile of the journalists producing this
material and the issues covered and the response through
letters to the editor
Objectives of the communications review
The aims of the evaluations programme were
identified as being to:
Review communications material including advertising,
website and newsletters to identify strengths and
weaknesses.
Conduct a full evaluation of press coverage from key
titles to measure the strength of the messaging
surrounding Ipswich Borough Council
Make tactical and strategic recommendations that will
enable the council to generate better value from their
communications expenditure.
The study took 3 weeks to complete and the final report to
the council detailed many strong and effective elements in
the communications.
As an example,
the media relations efforts seemed to be producing
encouraging results. However, some areas where greater
attention needed to be applied were also identified and to
be addressed by the council’s communications team.
Management summary and
observations
The Mantra executive report
suggested that Ipswich Borough Council’s communications
activity sometimes lacked a consistent presentation theme
that would enable the reader to associate the
advertisement, newsletter or website with the Council.
The survey also recommended that the use of logos
photographs and corporate colours should be controlled.
Clearer messages were needed, as these were sometimes
overpowered in promotional material.
Press coverage of Ipswich Borough Council
is largely very supportive, with proactive articles making
a significant positive impact. The report believed that
some of this success, however, is compromised by negative
coverage covering or gauging public opinion.
Looking at the
issues addressed, synergy between advertising and PR was
encouraging. A comparison between the two disciplines
shows the greater positive impact that PR is having. When
the issues being promoted by the council are compared with
those raised by the public however, key areas such as the
local environment and community life are identified as
requiring more emphasis in the council’s communications
activity. All material produced for the IBC should be
within the framework of a corporate communications
structure. The evaluation also suggested that significant
savings on current advertising expenditure would also
result from a greater degree of control. Savings were
readily identified through a realignment of the
advertising budget with reduced design costs and fewer
advertisements being placed.
Consultancy recommendations to
the council
Mantra
recommended creating a strategic plan for communications
to shape all marketing communications activity including
the website, PR, advertising and internal communications,
with targets set against each discipline. A guidebook on
the handling of the council identity – its brand -
should be designed, to specify how the logo and other
items should be handled. This would also reduce the
repeated design costs incurred when each advertisement or
newsletter is designed individually.
In
addition, the council should track relationships with key
publications and journalists to ensure the messages
delivered to the media are consistent and accurate, and in
turn that these are delivered to external audiences.
Regular audits should be completed to
measure performance against the recommended changes.
Communications as a whole should be reviewed annually and
media coverage should be analysed on an ongoing basis.
“The end results will include improved
effectiveness, cost and quality controls that will give
the community a better understanding of the council’s work
and how they can shape this”, Hayward concludes.
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