< PreviousThe situation In early 2009, the South Australian Government – through the Department for Environment and Heritage – proposed a network of marine parks comprising 46% of the State’s coastal waters, including 70% of coastal waters in the South-East. As one of the largest commercial fishing organisations in SA, the South Eastern Professional Fisherman’s Association (SEPFA) strongly opposed the Government’s plans and its proposed proclamation of outer boundaries for the marine parks network. Staunchly committed to the management of the State’s aquatic resources through appropriate management measures that are demonstrably in the best interests of conservation and sustainability, SEPFA approached Hughes Public Relations to develop a communications campaign to support its reasoned opposition to the Government and promote its alternative position. Working with the commercial fishing industry, marine scientists and concerned recreational fishers, Hughes PR implemented a state-wide campaign – with a specific focus on the South-East of SA – emphasising the potential threats of the Government’s proposed marine parks legislation to the future viability of a sustainable fishing industry. Objectives Hughes Public Relations’ task was to plan and implement a program in support of SEPFA’s opposition to the proposed outer boundaries for marine parks in SA. In particular, SEPFA commissioned the consultancy to achieve the following objectives: • Support a community understanding of the proposed marine parks legislation which pressures changes to the current proposal in line with SEPFA’s position; • Express the SA fishing industry’s concerns about the proposed marine parks to key Government stakeholders, local communities and the wider public; • Utilise and promote credible third-party information which demonstrates the SA Government’s advertising campaign was misleading and its position on marine parks was unfounded and unreasonable; • Emphasise the potential threats of the marine parks proposal to the future viability of a sustainable fishing industry; • Engage local communities and the wider public to ensure successful outcomes; and • Emphasise the fishing industry’s ongoing commitment to the conservation of the marine environment. Elements The consultancy developed an objective-focused communication strategy for SEPFA asking key target audiences and stakeholders to consider “What’s Below The Surface?” of the Government’s contentious marine parks proposal. The communications strategy comprised the following elements: • Identification of key target audiences and stakeholders; • Development of agreed “key messages” and a calendar of PR activities and opportunities which underpinned the strategic direction of the campaign; • Oversaw a state-wide advertising program and creation of promotional materials to directly address the State Government’s advertising campaign on marine parks; • Development of news releases and media stunts and opportunities; • Creation of a dedicated website. Outcome The “What’s Below The Surface?” campaign surpassed the expectations of the client with a number of key outcomes achieved. Significantly, in response to the campaign the State Government agreed to negotiate new smaller marine park boundaries in line with SEPFA’s requests, giving particular assurance to the Association for waters in the South-East. The Government subsequently set up a series of “working groups” giving commercial and recreational fishers equal representation alongside government representatives to discuss a more appropriate marine park system for the State. Importantly, the campaign satisfied each objective including bringing together commercial fishers with key recreational fishing groups and achieving strong industry, community and local government support for SEPFA’s position. Extensive media coverage was also generated in metropolitan and regional areas across press, radio and TV mediums. In addition, the campaign received widespread online attention through the www.whatsbelowthesurface.com.au website. As well as maintaining a record of news and media coverage received during the course of the campaign, the website’s specially created “Supporter Group” attracted overwhelming support from business organisations and individuals across the State adding further weight to SEPFA’s influential community relations campaign. SE Professional Fisherman’s Assoc. Marine Parks: What’s below the surface? 21 case studies community engagementThe situation The Heart Foundation is an independent charity which aims to reduce su ering and death from heart, stroke and blood vessel disease in Australia. It is a national organisation, working cooperatively on select national marketing campaigns, but also rolling out key stand-alone campaigns within individual states. The Heart Foundation SA has a small local communications team and sought PR support to achieve a strategic and proactive approach to launch its ‘Will you recognise your heart attack?’ campaign. It was the first time the Heart Foundation SA had engaged an external PR company for such a campaign. Objectives The ’Will you recognise your heart attack?’ campaign aimed to increase the relevance of heart health to Australians, to increase Australians recognition of the warning signs of a heart attack and to increase the awareness of the correct actions to take. The campaign in particular targeted those who did not perceive themselves as typically ‘at risk’ of su ering from a heart attack such as women and younger people. Key objectives of the campaign were to: • Raise awareness of the warning signs of a heart attack and what to do about it: call Triple Zero (000); • Support the Heart Foundation advertising campaign and educational messages; • Further position the Heart Foundation as the leading authority on heart attacks and heart health; and • Secure one substantial media piece per week for the 8 week period of the campaign, across a range of media channels. Elements The ‘Will you recognise your heart attack?’ communication campaign consisted of the following key elements: • Production of a media kit including case studies and detailed factsheets covering a wide variety of news angles; • Stakeholders Launch event at the Palace Nova Cinema for an audience of health professionals, paramedics, health administrators and government health bodies, other NGO’s and key Heart Foundation donors; • Media Launch event at the Royal Adelaide Hospital featuring keynote speeches from Heart Foundation SA’s Chief Executive, VIP spokesperson (former State Premier and heart attack victim) John Olsen and leading cardiologist Professor Ian Meredith; • Media briefings and timely media releases throughout the campaign e.g. highlighting World Heart Day and the associated Memorial Service at St Francis Xavier Cathedral; • Engagement with cardiovascular health stakeholders through regional events and briefings for SA health professionals; • Community engagement through the support of the Heart Foundation’s annual Doorknock Appeal; • Generation of ongoing media stories throughout the campaign; • Identifying and training key VIP spokespeople to engage with the media; • Providing media interview opportunities for Heart Foundation SA’s Chief Executive and VIP spokespeople; and • Supporting the campaign via the Heart Foundation SA’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. Testimonial ‘Hughes PR helped the Heart Foundation to develop a strategy and activities to launch and support our ’Will you recoginse your heart attack?’ campaign in South Australia. The advice generated activities we could deliver to budget and maximised the media take up of our messages resulting in 12 weeks of sustained TV, Press and Radio PR. A great result!’ Darrin Johnson | Director of Marketing & Business Development Outcome The campaign culminated in extensive print and online media coverage including an article and front page headline in The Advertiser’s Boomer Magazine for the over 50s, a Sunday Mail article focusing on the personal experiences of former Premier and Heart Foundation spokesperson John Olsen, AdelaideNow articles; ‘Women should wise up to heart risks’ and ‘Heart attack signs don’t follow a script’ and an InDaily article. Articles highlighting the key messages of the campaign were also printed in the national newspaper The Australian and nine SA regional newspapers. The ’Will you recognise your heart attack?’ campaign was also featured on commercial and ABC radio and TV news services and talk-back programs, as well as Radio Australia and ABC National radio. SA regional radio stations also covered the campaign in the first twelve weeks. On the campaign launch day the ’Will you recognise your heart attack?’ television commercial was embedded in News Limited website AdelaideNow, and received almost 1000 views over 24 hours. Heart Foundation Warning Signs 23 case studies community engagementThe situation The Dental Hygienists Association of Australia is a professional body of health professionals devoted to oral health and is one of 24 national bodies that comprise the International Federation of Dental Hygienists. Its members are all graduates of accredited schools of dental hygiene and they promote total health through the prevention of oral disease. Through clinical services, education, consultative planning and evaluation they work with dentists to prevent oral disease, provide treatment for existing disease and assist people to maintain an optimum level of oral health. As a relatively small professional association, the DHAA has limited funds to promote oral health and must take a strategic view of the application of its resources to the oral health agenda. It recognises the necessity of promoting oral health, and the services of its members in providing oral healthcare services, so has engaged Hughes Public Relations to devise and implement periodic publicity campaigns to promote its interests. Objectives The Association decided early in 2003 that the practice of tongue and lip piercing had become so widespread that it constituted a public health issue in Australia. The Association briefed Hughes Public Relations to mount a publicity campaign in March 2003 to warn young people about the dangers of oral piercing. The objectives were to capture the attention of the whole Australian community, particularly young people who undergo oral piercing as a fashion or identity statement or in response to peer pressure. The underlying key message of the campaign was to make young people aware of the general and dental health risks they faced. Elements The key elements of the campaign were: • Concentrating on print and radio media nationally as the two communication channels most likely to take up the story and also provide access to young people and those who influence them; • A strong message, covering “confronting” topics and couched in language that would provide catchy print news copy and headlines and also generate provocative “sound grab” phrases for radio; • Organising local Association spokespersons to be quoted in media releases and participate in resulting interviews – particularly radio – in each state and the ACT; • Development of separate radio and print news releases in each state and the ACT; • Following up with subsequent news releases for magazines to health, women’s, men’s and gay magazines. The news releases were prepared and issued to metropolitan and regional newspapers, radio presenters and radio and television newsrooms in a coordinated nation-wide release covering all states and the ACT. Outcome The results were spectacular – 27 identified newspaper articles and 56 radio bulletins and interviews. The newspaper coverage was outstanding – including prominent articles in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Courier-Mail, The West Australian and the Mercury, and coverage in regional newspapers across five states. Overall, the Association’s warning hit an estimated media audience of more than seven million Australians in the publicity campaign through metropolitan and regional print and radio outlets. Further coverage was achieved, but not measured, in regional radio and magazine coverage. All monitored news coverage mentioned the Association and most included the nominated key messages developed for the campaign – drooling and slurred speech, as well as the risk of infection and permanent damage to teeth and mouth. Dental Hygienists Assoc. of Australia Drooling for publicity 25 case studies community engagementImage courtesy of Jason South / Fairfax SyndicationOutcome • GDF- SUEZ Australian Energy has maintained high-level dialogue with the Victorian Government post the Morwell fire; • GDF-SUEZ Australian Energy assisted the Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry Board as they conducted their investigations, including facilitating inspections and responding to requests for information; • GDF-SUEZ Australian Energy has supported the inquiry and attended public hearings to answer relevant questions as and when required by the Board; • The company has provided ongoing support for a number of local community organisations and played its part in the area’s revival a er the fire through contributions to the Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund and support of other social and economic stimulus initiatives for the benefit of the Latrobe Valley community; • Relationships between GDF-SUEZ Australian Energy and its stakeholders – including Government and the community – have, in the main, returned to normal. GDF-SUEZ Australian Energy Issue management The situation GDF-SUEZ Australian Energy owns and operates the Hazelwood Power Station in Victoria’s La Trobe Valley. Hazelwood supplies up to 25 per cent of Victoria’s energy requirements and more than 5 per cent of Australia’s energy demand. On February 9, 2014 out of control bushfires raged across Victoria fanned by temperatures of 40C-plus and wind gusts of up to 100 kmh. Seventy fires burnt 16,000 hectares and 45 homes north of Melbourne while at Morwell, the fire spread from surrounding bushland and established a hold inside the Hazelwood open cut coal mine, threatening electricity generation and harming air quality. On March 11, the mine fire was o icially declared under control and by March 25 it was o icially declared extinguished – 45 days a er starting. A 20 year-old was arrested on June 26, 2015 in relation to the fire, which is alleged to have been deliberately lit on February 7, 2014. Managing communication was di icult due to confused intelligence about the extent of fires, particularly in the Morwell area due to fire resources being stretched across the State. The interruption of coal supplies and the proximity of Hazelwood Power Station presented a significant threat to Victoria’s power supplies while at the same time the State Government was under pressure to ensure continuity of supply and manage the impact of smoke on residents. Understandably, there were high levels of community concern about air quality which saw the Environment Protection Authority called in; a health assessment centre established; children bussed to nearby schools; and pregnant women, young children and the elderly urged to evacuate the town. Community anger was increasingly aimed at Government and mine operator GDF-SUEZ Australian Energy. Elements As providers of communication services to GDF SUEZ, Hughes supported the company’s Group Manager, Corporate A airs and Communication Strategist through a strategy based on: • Strict adherence to GDF-SUEZ Australian Energy issues management protocols; • Intelligence gathering through traditional and social media monitoring; • Strong top down engagement with the Victorian Government to ensure a strategic approach to problem solving and consistent communication; • Minimal engagement with media by GDF-SUEZ Australian Energy to ensure clear messaging from Government – avoiding the potential for “divide and conquer” and potential descent into a “blame game”; • Clarification of facts with media and the community to minimise speculation and emotion; • Establishment and promotion of 24-hour toll-free hotline; • Positioning of the fire as a shared concern to emphasise GDF-SUEZ Australian Energy’s integral role in the community. (More than 500 GDF-SUEZ Australian Energy sta and 300 contractors live near the Hazelwood Power Station and mine); • Preparation and circulation of Q&As in response to emerging issues; • Provision of financial assistance to local community; and • Visible post-event cooperation with Victorian Government and agencies. Morwell Mine Fire 27 case studiesOutcome The communication program played its role in a successful outcome. Eight months later, in November 2001, the consultancy assisted Ferrier Hodgson in announcing the successful sale of Harris Scarfe. The consultancy has continued to work with the company’s new owners to relaunch and build a revitalised Harris Scarfe. Today, Harris Scarfe continues to build on its 150-year retail heritage under new ownership and with a new lease of life. While store numbers have been rationalised from 35 to 23, the jobs of 1700 people in the company’s core markets of South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania have been saved. The company’s head o ice and flagship store have been retained in Adelaide. Its customer base is intact and growing. harris Scarfe The situation In April 2001 the future of 150-year–old retail icon Harris Scarfe Limited looked bleak. Trading of its shares on the Australian Stock Exchange had been suspended, a Voluntary Administrator had been appointed by the Harris Scarfe Board to investigate accounting irregularities totalling nearly $125 million and the company’s major creditor had appointed Ferrier Hodgson as Receiver and Manager. Unsecured creditors (mainly suppliers) were estimated to be owed $65 million, uncertainty hung over the future job prospects of the company’s 3000 employees nationally, and customers were abandoning the stores. Hughes Public Relations was appointed by Ferrier Hodgson to manage communication in support of the firm’s e orts to restructure and sell Harris Scarfe. objectives Key objectives of the communication program were to: • Address supplier nervousness and maintain supply of stock; • Rally the morale of employees to protect jobs and enhance customer service and sales; • Foster the ongoing support of Harris Scarfe shoppers to maintain short-term revenues and long-term loyalty; • Assist the business sale process by building public acceptance of its viability; • Ensure consistent communication with these key stakeholders and the news media, government and unions. The communication program rested on specific strategies targeted at supporting the business plan of the Receiver and Manager. Elements Key elements included: • Establishment of a communication team, which met daily in the early weeks, to drive and manage the communication planning and implementation; • Choosing and briefing a single spokesperson with key messages, updated as necessary; • Identification of all relevant news media and timely provision of accurate information and specific briefings when required; • Managing media inquiries to balance the conflict between media deadlines and requirements and management’s availability and confidentiality issues; • Establishment and management of free call hotlines for suppliers and customers; • Monitoring media and free call topics to ensure that incorrect information was quickly identified and corrected; • Maintaining milestone publicity to ensure that all major events were publicised. Bringing a retail icon back to life 29 case studies Issue managementNext >