In this edition of How’d They Do That, a nonprofit’s award for public relations branding holds a far more important lesson in issues management.
For many reasons, both personal and professional, I was intrigued by the PR News’ 2015 Elite Award for Branding winner, Pac West Communications on behalf of its nonprofit client, Coloradans For Responsible Environment Development (CRED). In fact, if there were a public relations category for changing the conversation, in all seriousness, CRED would win that too. None-the-less, who wouldn’t be impressed when a nonprofit achieves marketing success? Here’s a recap of the results, courtesy of Pac West.
CRED’s work was unprecedented with communications and outreach statewide, including 2.1 million pieces of mail delivered to more than 550,000 households last year. Now 72 percent of Coloradans have heard of CRED, with 62 percent support from individuals living near fracking operations. As a final indication of success, 54 percent of Coloradans are more likely to oppose a moratorium on fracking.
Here are a few examples of CRED’s communication tools:
https://youtu.be/AdnU4Ge-pH8
https://youtu.be/S-ekEYzMUpw
With outstanding results and creative to match, Bravo! Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, is one of the most controversial environmental issues of our generation. By all accounts, CRED, by way of its agency, executed a flawless program of messaging and good old community relations to influence public opinion. It’s a concept made popular by a quote from the television series Mad Men: If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.
But here’s the rub. CRED is no ordinary nonprofit. It was established by two oil and natural gas companies with a vested interest in the economic prosperity of hydraulic fracturing. In 2013, its first year of operations, CRED had revenues from contributions and grants of more than $4.5million and spent over $4.4 million “to educate the public about the benefits associated with the practice of hydraulic fracturing.” In this writer’s opinion, while CRED has mastered the art of issues management, it is yet another example of shilling for drilling.
Not many nonprofits or small businesses, for that matter, have CRED’s budgetary luxury. However, the Institute For Public Relations offers an excellent set of issues management guidelines. The following steps will help any company frame the conversation of a controversial issue to their advantage.
Step 1–Monitoring
- Analyze the business environment.
- Scan and monitor what is being said, written and done by public, media, interest groups, government and other opinion leaders.
- Consider what may impact on the company or its divisions.
Step 2–Identification
- Assess from the business environment those elements that are important
- Look for a new pattern emerging from what most people take for granted.
- Identify the issue that impact on the company and are gaining widespread support.
- What is the type of issue and where is it in its lifecycle?
Step 3–Prioritization
- How far-reaching will an issue’s impact be (product sector, company, industry)?
- Assess what is at stake—Profit? Reputation? Freedom of action?
- What is the probability of occurrence?
- How immediate is the issue?
Step 4–Analysis
- Analyze the most important issues in some detail.
- Determine their probable impact on the company or its divisions as precisely as possible.
- Establish issue support teams if appropriate.
- Identify/rank stakeholders.
Step 5–Strategy decision
- Create a strategic response and define the content of the message.
- Identify the target groups.
- What are the company’s strategic options?
- What resources are needed?
- What specific actions should be taken? By whom? When? With whom?
- Develop issue management communication plan and consider timing.
Step 6–Implementation
- Implement the policies and programs approved by management.
- Communicate the response effectively with each target group in a credible form.
- Advocate the company position to prevent negative impacts and encourage actions with beneficial effects.
Step 7–Evaluation
- Assess results.
- Evaluate the success of policies and programs to determine future strategies.
- Capture lessons from failures and successes.
Read the Institute For Public Relations’ full guidelines, Issues Management, at instituteforpr.org.
How do you manage issues that affect your business or industry? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section of this post.
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GB O’Brien
LGK Principal
Featured image photo credit: twm1340 / Foter / CC BY-SA