Communications planning examples

Tailored planning to engage your stakeholders

For clear, strategic thinking and targeted communications planning that helps you achieve your goals, contact Cinden.

Since establishing her own business in 2000, she has worked with government and private sector clients on more than 65 targeted communications planning projects to engage both internal and external audiences.

Here are just some examples of past work. Note, government department names were correct at the time.

• Communications plan/kit – Researching and developing a communications plan/kit for the ACT Government’s domestic and family violence training. Also developing a communications plan for the ACT Government’s Family Safety Hub, including key messaging and narrative, and spelling out communications activities/channels and timing.
• Communications strategy – Researching and developing a communications strategy for Universities Australia that aligned with the organisation’s strategic direction, enabled more proactive communication and was flexible enough so the organisation can implement various elements, as appropriate. This involved a review of current communications, interviews and workshop with key staff, and development of a strategy that clearly articulated communications objectives, principles and priorities, audiences, messaging, tactics and opportunities and guidance on implementation and evaluation.
• Communications framework and kit – Researching and developing a resource for the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s City Deals program, to ensure a strategic and coordinated approach to working with the states, territories and local governments for Smart Cities and City Deal events and communications activities. The draft kit included broad communications objectives, guiding principles, key messaging and a range of tools such as checklists, protocols and an example City Deal media strategy.
• Communications roadmap – Researching and developing a strategy for the Australian Academy of the Humanities, to provide a roadmap for smarter and more streamlined communications across two main areas, the Academy’s public face and profile and its key relationships. The strategy included communications objectives, communications principles, tone of voice and positioning, target stakeholders, recommended communications tools and activities, draft key messages, and resources such as checklists and quick guides to help improve communications.
• Communications and engagement strategy – Researching and developing a comprehensive strategy for the development of the University of Canberra Hospital, to guide communication with internal and external stakeholders.
• Internal communications framework – Developing a framework for effective internal communications for the Clean Energy Regulator. This included describing the approach, benefits, objective, guiding principles, roles and responsibilities, and process (from planning through to evaluation).
• Engagement strategy recommendations – Conducting staff discussion groups and reviewing background information to prepare a report and recommendations for the Clean Energy Regulator. The report informed an internal engagement strategy for Members of the Regulator.
• Internal and external communications strategy – Researching and drafting an internal and external communications strategy for the Australian National Audit Office.
• Communications strategy and stakeholder engagement framework – Researching background information, interviewing internal stakeholders and developing a comprehensive overarching communications strategy, stakeholder and media engagement framework, and other topic-specific communications plans for the Clean Energy Regulator.
• Targeted communications plan – Researching and developing a plan to support more effective and targeted promotion and communication of the Athlete Career and Education program to coaches. This included working with the Australian Sports Commission to survey coaches and holding workshop to discuss findings, suggested messages and tactics before finalising the strategy and supporting materials.
• Internal communications/reform agenda – Developing a strategy to introduce a strategic program reform initiative to staff at the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and begin to engage them in the process.
• Change communications – Assisting with senior executive messaging and staff communication about service delivery reform and related organisational change as three large agencies merged into the Department of Human Services. This included writing messages from the Secretary and two CEOs, speaking notes, vodcast scripts and newsletter articles as well as SES briefing kits and communiqués from SES forums.
• Marketing and stakeholder engagement strategy – Researching and developing a marketing and communications strategy to strengthen Lighting Council Australia’s stakeholder engagement and profile. This included conducting an online member survey.
• Communications strategy – Researching and developing a communications strategy for the Commercial Building Disclosure program. Subsequently engaged to write articles for placement in specialist magazines, as identified in the strategy.
• Marketing plan – Researching and developing a comprehensive plan to proactively market the Australian Government Information Office as the lead agency on government ICT policy. This included identifying channels, key messages, required materials and staff survey questions regarding professional use of social media.
• Marketing strategy – Developing a marketing and communications strategy for an ACT government-owned business.
• Issues management plans – Researching and developing an issues management/stakeholder consultation plan covering complex and sometimes sensitive issues related to heritage protection reforms. Also developing issues management plans for two government agencies so they were prepared to handle potential media and stakeholder interest in a redevelopment project and an asbestos-related issue.
• Communications audit – Conducting a communications audit for a national medical professional association, including providing strategic advice and comprehensive media and public affairs services.
• Comprehensive communications plan – Researching and developing a comprehensive communications plan for the construction of the National Portrait Gallery (for the Department of Finance, which was managing the construction project).
• Media strategy – Developing a media strategy and protocols for a high profile Australian Government agency to ensure a strategic approach to media liaison, both when reacting to media interest and when generating media coverage.
• Article placement strategy – Researching, developing and implementing a national article placement strategy for stories about the Australian Government’s support for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
• Marketing program – Developing and updating annual marketing programs, and providing advice and assistance with marketing activities for PSMA Australia Limited, Australia’s leading source of spatial mapping data.
• Product launch – Developing a launch strategy and helping to organise the event, including developing a media strategy and video to promote a new national database of Australian street addresses and associated geocodes.