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➤ LOCATIONs

Bendigo, Hobart, Melbourne and Shanghai

☎ CONTACT

kevinbroadribb@gmail.com

strategic communications

No other Australian communications specialist has had the same level of success with nullifying the effects of anti-industry campaigns.

Kevin’s teams have secured major victories, and ensured industry survival, in the resources, finance and health sectors.

Strategic communications, to be effective, must manage perceptions within the social, political and business environments. Typically it involves repositioning and business integrity development.

MANAGING THE RAPID GROWTH OF ANTI-INDUSTRY ACTIVISTS

At the end of last century there was the beginning of rapid growth of anti-globalisation and anti-industry activism. International and local campaigns have been directed at ending all mining, forestry, agriculture and aquaculture.

Organisers of these campaigns combine publicity stunts, and sabotage, to gain media coverage with pressure tactics to influence decisions by local and national governments, as well as international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the United Nations.

Campaigns are now targeting a broader range of mining activity and new technologies that are dependent on mining.

Campaign impact is accelerating as a result of false environmental claims by mining companies and increasing concern about global warming.

Future survival and profitability of the mining sector will depend on managing the excesses of anti-mining extremists, utilising best-practice environmental controls during mining and cessation of dishonest communications.

ongoing ccommunity support in the resources sectors

The cornerstones of ongoing business security for the mining, agriculture and aquaculture sectors are: robust and strategic community engagement, rigorous social impact assessments, highest calibre environmental and social impact management procedures and transparent procedures to address grievances.

These must be supported by systems that ensure issues and concerns are addressed before they escalate and social and political risk increases.

Protests are mechanisms by which groups within communities affected communities express their concerns. Sometimes protests are manufactured by groups that simply want no mining because of their world view. Taking the wrong approach to protest groups can, unfortunately, create the impression that a mining company has no interest in the well-being of local communities. This is unfair and unfortunate but it must be managed strategically.

Too often, company responses to protests accelerate those protests and facilitate violence.

Community concerns must be addressed as early as possible. At the same time, the efforts of anti-mining extremists must be managed in a way that does not generate broader community distrust.

the cost of conflict

Most companies within the mining sector do not understand or accurately calculate the costs of protests and conflict.

Failure to avoid, resolve or manage conflict, such as activity by anti-mining activists, erodes corporate value.

Underlying issues need to be addressed holistically to protect community and political support. This is critical for protecting expansion plans and new projects in the future. It also stops erosion of senior management time.

Failure to build trusting, sustainable relationships with local communities, governments and the wider national community is a common problem within the mining sector. Survival and profitability also require well-considered efforts to address both risk management and social investment.

The mechanisms of survival must also include holistic, strategic planning to address the sustained anti-mining campaigns that are the hallmark of the predictable and growing radical antimining groups.

identification and analysis of the real cost of community disquiet is important for the mining, agriculture and aquaculture sectors

Rigorous understanding and analysis of the costs of company community conflict is important for many sectors of the economy with mining at particular risk. It is important to understand internal issues and decision-making protocols that are likely to influence the extent to which companies pay attention to these costs, and invest productive relationships with local communities.

There are a number of factors that contribute to whether or not a company adequately pays attention to community relationships and social obligations

Providers of finance and insurance are expecting higher standards of community engagement because they want to protect their own political and social risk. Politically sensitive situations and hostile protests create ever increasing risks for the finance sector and investors.

Decisions about these matters must be made within the context of the political environment. A change of government can escalate risks, especially when that government is dependent on support from minority groups.

Shareholders and business partners are treating environmental management as an ever escalating business priority. They want their investment protected. They also want their corporate reputations preserved.

general editing AND PROOFREADING for holistic corporate positioning

There is no point in developing a communications strategy to mange a politically sensitive environment if marketing collateral and web-based platforms tell an inconsistent story or reflect an inappropriate world view. Editing arrangements can be set in place to support corporate positioning in hostile, anti-industry political environments. Our specialist teams review marketing material, reports, submissions and business proposals. In addition, editing services are provided for electronic communications products such as mobile phone applications. Fast response editing can be provided for corporate blogs and social media posts.

cross-platform content management

Many clients have a range of communications materials, printed and/or electronic. Our team can ensure style and language consistency across multiple related products and can amend style to ensure functionality of digital platforms.

digital platform editing

Content for digital apps such as mobile phones must be written to ensure readability with limited text. This requires conciseness of expression, a language structure and thought continuance that addresses the logic of the screen sequencing.

separate specialist division: REview of english language business communications from china

English language marketing materials, business documents and submissions to government, that have been written in other countries, often do not have appropriate grammar, spelling and punctuation. In addition, the structure of the documents and the sequencing of ideas and evidence are often counter-productive. Our specialist team can rewrite and restructure documents, submissions and other communications materials to make them more appropriate for intended audiences.