Keeping Communications Agile in the Connected Era

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KEEPING COMMUNICATIONS

AGILESherrilynne Starkie

PresidentThornley Fallis Communications

www.thornleyfallis.com

www.bulldogreporter.com #BDRinsights

@sherrilynne

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW

A Look Back

Today’s Media Environment

What is Agile Communications Development

Case Studies and Examples

Replacing R.A.C.E

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R.A.C.E


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Evaluation

Communication

Analysis

Research

IS THE R.A.C.E METHOD STILL RELEVANT?


Proposed by John E. Marston in 1963

A four-step method for communications planning

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TODAY’S MEDIA LANDSCAPE


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WHAT IS ADAPTIVE PLANNING?

Continuous • The world is constantly changing

• Take advantage of schedule advances • Keep options open

Release early and often• The more often you deliver, the more often you change

• Think small, interactive actions will improve campaign momentum

• Discover interdependencies


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ADAPTIVE PLANNINGWe are helping the United Association of

Canada to effect a cultural change

A hundred years of tradition


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WHAT IS EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT?Goal Driven

• Articulated as a SMART goal• Often underpinned with smaller objectives

• Goals and objectives remain fixed, while strategies and tactics shift

Creative/Collaborative• Problem solving discussions, brainstorm sessions

• Subject matter experts, creatives, analysts, technologist, more

• Ideas are formulated and tested

Consultative, feedback driven• Stakeholders are consulted often

• Social media and web data is analysed constantly


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EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT


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To make Canada a global centre for innovation GM had to gain Canadian stakeholder support for the idea

100 top engineers recruited in one year

A YEAR INTO THE CAMPAIGN, THIS

HAPPENED


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HOW TO DELIVER EARLY &

IMPROVEThe ‘Big Launch’ is redefined and may not be the start of a campaign

• A ‘launch’ event or news release might come a third of the way into program

• Reach might be extended in second phase or wave of activity• A website might be launched and left unpromoted for a period

• Content might be published within a closed group

Delivering before launch provides insights to get things right

• Testing messages via Twitter• Sponsoring content on Facebook

• Trialling tags and keywords

Is not risk free


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DELIVERING EARLY


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DELIVERING EARLY


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WHAT IS RAPID RESPONSE?

A solid foundation of policies, procedures, guidelines allows flexibility, agility and responsiveness

Ideas, tactics and strategies can be adjusted on the fly. Changes made and retested in almost real-time

ROI increases as rework is reduced and targeting is honed

Analytics provide actionable insights• Granular data

• Measurable goals


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RAPID RESPONSEGovernment organisations often struggle with

flexibility and responsiveness when it comes to communications

We helped the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), a crown corporation through these

issues


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REPLACING R.A.C.E.


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Analyze

Adjust

Communicate

Analyze

Adjust

Communicate

Analyze

Adjust

Communicate

QUESTIONS

Sherrilynne StarkiePresident

Thornley Fallis CommunicationsSmart Communications for Smart Organizations

[email protected]


@sherrilynne

Keeping Communications Agile in the Connected Era

Marketing