Resetting your communication department
With Thierry Brunfaut BASE Design, Lore Van de Meutter La Monnaie
CHALLENGE
There exists a paradox in many cultural institutions. Communication is said to be a top priority, and yet…
communication departments rarely have wide-reaching decision power
other stakeholders can hold considerable authority over communication decisions
communication departments are left to seek out external help (that’s when theycall up BASE)
How can institutions create a culture that empowers the communication team and valorises their work?
ACTION
Empower your communication team. This is a long process and not for the faint-hearted – BASE and La Monnaie worked on this reversal over 18 months. La Monnaie’s actions are here shown in italics.
Criticise everything : Go through every step of the process (internal and external) and ask why you’re doing it to draw out the flaws.
No clear work evaluation process
No clear advantage in being a subscriber
Lack of innovation – work is stuck in a repetitive cycle
Personalise objectives: Analyse your different audiences – what do they want from you, what do you want from them, what problems exist in between?
Price is a barrier for young people
That “something extra” is missing for subscribers
And reframe the preconceptions that have been blocking certain audiences:
Opera is not inaccessible.
Opera is exceptional.
Planning and implementation: Scrutinise internal actions and classify them – make clear what you should continue doing, stop doing and start doing. Now you have a plan. Spell out your plan to the powers that be referring to the analyses you have to back it up. Establish expertise-based teams to address the essential aspects of the community strategy: social, digital, visual identity, tone-of-voice, magazine, graphics, tools, etc. You now have an empowered dream team equipped with a clear roadmap and toolbox. Congratulations. You have reset.
KEY LEARNINGS
Get everybody in the room! Bring ideas together, be transparent, listen as well as lead. Don’t downplay your team’s value – external agencies are partners, not saviors.
Flip the perspective on process – shift from being output-driven to process-driven (who / who / how / what).
Make it clear – the full synthesised strategy should fit onto one page.
Don’t waste time! Start tomorrow, and don’t stop – learn, correct and improve as you go.