Strategic Consultation

The development of a sound communications plan is critical to the success of your program. The PlowShare Group will add structure and expertise and lead the process in identifying and prioritizing the Objectives (what you seek to achieve), the Strategies (how you are going to get there), the Target Audience (defines who you are trying to reach among key segments within the general public), the Tactics (the specific program materials to be deployed), and Evaluation (measures of campaign effectiveness). Some or much of the information and thinking already exists within the efforts you have already completed. However, the challenge is to pull it together in a usable, cohesive form and to have us re-affirm or possibly revise the objectives given our experience.

In addition, PlowShare would also audit “competitive” offerings from other nonprofits that compete for the same “share-of-mind”. The findings from this audit will inform the communications plan. In undertaking the communications audit, PlowShare will also assess the Campaign brand. Successful brand management calls for clear, cohesive, consistent, and compelling use of the brand across all of its applications. We will also evaluate how to uniquely differentiate the brand from your competitors and make recommendations accordingly.

The communications plan will ensure that financial, human and marketing resources are optimized, with budgets spent efficiently and effectively in “strategic” rather than reactive mode. The strategic plan will form the road map for the marketing effort to ensure that all efforts are working together towards the same objectives, with consistent messages and visuals, and to ensure timely implementation of the different components. The major elements of our Communications Plan are outlined as seen in illustration above.

Upon completion of the Communications Plan, PlowShare will develop a complete advertising campaign strategy for review and approval. It will be based upon the needs as defined in the research and as informed by the communications audit and guidance from the those involved in the campaign. The strategy will define the media to be used, the copy strategy, the political issues to be considered and any other issues that may impact on the campaign. There will also be a positioning statement that articulates how you campaign will be represented in the marketplace in the minds of your constituents and among the discreet target audience(s).

© 2008 PlowShare Group, Inc.