Strategic Communication
Success isn’t by accident. Without a plan, even the lucky will fail in time. Strategic communication requires a point of view—the strategy—of what needs to be said, how the message is delivered, to whom, and why.
Rushbrooke Communications will guide clients through the most trying reputational crisis or develop a strategic communication campaign to move public opinion on a controversial issue. We offer:
- Communication strategy and planning;
- Message platform development;
- Campaign management;
- Coalition building and stakeholder outreach;
- Crisis planning and communications;
- Media training;
- Ad testing;
- Opinion research and campaign measurement; and,
- Targeting and segmentation.
Public Opinion Research
No one likes surprises. Without research, the most considered strategic communication campaign is flying blind. Effective research reduces public affairs risk by indentifying latent threats and providing an opportunity to test potential responses without having to publicly commit to them.
Rushbrooke Communications offers a full suite of quantitative and qualitative research tools to support strategy development, track campaign progress, and test needs. These include:
- Telephone (CATI) surveys;
- Online surveys;
- In-person focus groups; and,
- Advertisement / collateral testing.
GETTING THE FULL PICTURE
As the face of Canada changes, traditional surveys conducted in English (and French) are not always sufficient to capture the true breadth of public opinion. Metro Vancouver and Greater Toronto are home to significant populations whose everyday experience is in Mandarin, Cantonese, or Punjabi. Their daily lives—at home, shopping, consuming media, and even at work—occur in a language other than English. Simply put, trying to engage these groups in English will fail. For this reason, it is becoming increasingly common for our research projects to include specific sample and design to capture these groups.
Our market research services are provided in languages that reflect Canada’s diversity. Telephone surveys are routinely delivered multiple languages. Our focus groups are offered with simultaneous interpretation to allow clients to observe Cantonese, Mandarin, and Punjabi groups in real time.
Public Consultation and Infrastructure Siting
‘Getting to yes’ takes longer than it used to. The bar for success in public consultation has been consistently rising. Project siting has become an increasingly significant practice area for Rushbrooke Communications. The once stand-by strategies to ‘low bridge’ or ‘tick the boxes’ no longer offer a viable path to success. Project proponents face increasing expectations from the public, politicians, media, and other stakeholders. To help our clients navigate this frequently shifting terrain, we offer:
- Project positioning and introduction;
- Consultation planning and management;
- Stakeholder outreach and coalition building;
- Public and stakeholder meeting facilitation;
- Collateral development;
- Online consultation; and,
- Report writing and design.
Any project subject to regulatory approval will need additional services. To complete the team, we have trusted partners that we are ready to engage for government relations, First Nations consultation, regulatory and legal services, and environmental engineering.