Communications & Reputation

When organisations need to change direction, accelerate or respond to market disruption, we work with communications teams to get the major strategic calls right.

At key moments, this is critical to the function’s ability to deliver value.

However, with wide remits, rapid external shifts, multiple stakeholders and constrained resources, it can be challenging for communications teams to pinpoint where to focus efforts.

With a consulting-led approach, we help clients define the role communications should play, set a clear strategy and determine where to focus resources.

Our key services in this area include:

• Annual planning cycle facilitation
• Strategy labs and workshops
• One-to-five-year strategy development
• Leadership change preparation
• Data and insight analysis
• Global rollout support

We help organisations prepare for, navigate and recover from major issues and crises.

Our team has over 20 years’ experience advising organisations through live incidents and reputational issues, from operational incidents, technology failures, safety issues and cyberattacks through to market failure, global public health, and navigating geopolitical events.  

We are crisis simulation and war game specialists, and our services range from foundational desktop exercises through to immersive, on-location, multi-geography, multi-organisation simulations involving hundreds of participants.

We’ve pioneered crisis management procedures, ideas and training used widely by industry, and our team has authored several books that have moved the discipline forward.​

In addition, we offer a range of crisis communications training, including coaching for leaders, teams and secretariats as well as spokesperson media training.

Our key services in this area include:

• Issues planning and management
• Crisis exercising and training
• Crisis communications policy development
• Reputation risk mapping
• Live issues and crisis responseCrisis communications and media training

We blend change management methodology and communications experience to support organisations through major programmes and organisational change.

Whether unexpected, planned or mandated, effective communication is critical in successfully managing periods of change, transformation or disruption.

Considered, audience-focused communication is crucial to keeping stakeholders informed, supported, and aligned, ultimately protecting the organisation's operations, reputation and bottom line.

Our team of Communications through Change specialists blend strategic communications, change management, crisis and resilience experience to support clients in navigating major programmes and other organisational change.

Our key services in this area include:

• Stakeholder impact mapping
• Risks and barriers assessment and mitigation planning
• Strategy development and communications planning
• Communications delivery and deployment, including materials and toolkit development
• Leader/change agent training and preparation
• Performance tracking and ongoing rollout support

We help corporate affairs teams enhance capability and performance to help their organisations thrive in challenging contexts.

The focus on value creation and transformation internally, while navigating complex geopolitics, regulatory shifts and public expectation outside, is spurring the increasing professionalisation of the corporate affairs function.

Our team blends experience in corporate affairs, risk management, human capital and consulting to develop solutions in response to our clients’ most pressing challenges.

Our complementary Corporate Affairs Director (CAD) Programme provides a range of support to those in leadership roles, helping to define their approach and build their teams.  

Our services in this area include:

• Benchmarking and operating model development
• Corporate affairs function diagnostic
• CAD Transition Labs
• Leadership team Greenhouse sessions
• Research, insights and data analytics
• Measurement and evaluation methodology
• Technology and AI deployment
• Capability development and organisational design

We help clients develop, execute and measure corporate campaigns to create business value.

Well-designed corporate campaigns help organisations demonstrate relevance, earn trust and deliver value.

We offer end-to-end support, from insights and strategy development to execution and evaluation, drawing on a multidisciplinary team of strategy, creative (via our campaigns team, ACNE) and data specialists.

Our key services in this area include:

• Strategy development and campaign white space definition
• Qualitative research and stakeholder interviews
• Digital and social media analytics
• Messaging and creative content development
• Media planning and buying
• Global execution toolkits
• Campaign performance dashboards