Four Principles of Change Communications

 This past week I have been involved in change communications both as sender and receiver. 

As part of a government reference group I'm helping with a report on an environmental issue likely to attract community interest. On the other hand a government agency is proving advice on a significant shift in its tourism strategy to the organisation I'm currently with. 

Quite similar communications principles emerged even though both unfolding situations are very different: 

• You can never give people too much information when your issue affects their interests. People hunger for information if they have a personal stake in the outcome.

• Never assume people know what you know, until they prove otherwise. Your knowledge achieves true value when you share it. 

• Just when you grow tired of giving out information, people are just beginning to understand or recognize your issue. Consistent communications is the hallmark in good change programs.

• It is better to progressively give out information as it comes to hand rather than save everything for a grand announcement. When change is imminent people speculate in the absence of communication . Rumours start and people fill in the gaps with their own theories.  And besides, grand announcements often fail to live up to their expectations. They either diappoint or draw ciriticism if people feel they have not been adequately consulted.

Communicators already know these sentiments, but it was interesting to see them driven home and affirmed in quite different situations over the space of a few days.

Pro Bono PR Workshops Hit The Mark

Since 2003 I have conducted free PR workshops for nearly 300 not for profit organisations. The feedback is generally positive and we enjoy supporting those who support their communities.

Volunteering ACT (VACT) mentioned these efforts in its 2010 - 2011 Annual Report.

"....volunteer agencies have benefited greatly from the pro bono series of workshops presented by Bob Crawshaw of Maine Street Marketing.  Feedback from participants in these workshops has been overwhelmingly positive, with ongoing feedback indicating the great value to all agencies concerned.  

All workshops in the series were over subscribed.  
VACT Education extends warm appreciation to Mr Crawshaw for 
his generous and expert contributions."

Throughout the 2011 seminar series it was certainly a great pleasure for me to work with the highly professional and always engaging VACT Education Manager, Roger McFarlane. 

How Often Should You Advertise?

I belong to an online community interested in social marketing.  

This very active group of people generously shares research and experiences on strategies that encourage people to change personal and group behaviour to achieve positive personal, community, environmental or other outcomes.

Recently a forum member asked "...is there a certain number of times that a consumer needs to be exposed to a message before it leads to a behavior change?"

I do a lot of advertising so the topic captured my attention.  

I was particularly impressed with Linda Brennan's response. Linda is Professor of Advertising at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).  She replied (quoted in full):

"The rule of thumb in advertising is 3 repeats in order for people to remember it. There are some generalisations about this idea that suggest that recall is a good first step in generating attention.

However, behaviour change is not about exposure to the message; it is about engagement with the message. That is, it must be relevant to the audience, accepted and credible, they must have formed some sort of attachment to the ideas embedded in the message/exposure and then they must have actively decided to behave differently. Some time after that comes behaviour and only then if the social ecology (environment) in which they live allows for them to behave differently to previous behaviours.

So, do not over expose your message and hope it will work for you (it won't)."

Someone else highlighted research by Gerard J Tellis of the University of Southern California and his research paper titled Effective Frequency: One Exposure or Three Factors? 

Advertising can be a powerful weapon to introduce an issue or to reinforce a message, but in this age of communications-saturation it has long since lost favour as a silver bullet.

Not For Profit PR Podcasts

 This past week we started production with North American broadcaster, Wayne Kelly, on a 10-part podcast series on PR and not for profits. 

The series is intended for volunteers and staff working in small to medium-size community service organizations.  They are the people who do such great work in our communities and are keen to tell clients, supporters, governments, donors and their towns about what their organisation does.

The series covers:

• Why marketing is a must for not for profits. 
• What a simple, 12 month marketing plan looks like. 
• Three marketing strategies for less than $500 a year. 
• The power of events for not for profits. 
• Becoming social media-savvy. 
• Word of mouth marketing. 
• Funding, sponsorship and government relations. 
• Marketing channels such as print and direct marketing. 
• And the boring but essential things like budgets, timetables, and measurement.

The series will be a companion to our upcoming book PR on a Tiny Budget: How Not For Profits Can Win Attention and, like the book, will be available in the new year.

Social Media Revolution 2011

Watch this great video on social media.  

Like a lot of web content it is hard to know if the figures are accurate, but it certainly makes you stop and think about how our digital worlds are changing.