Since its inception in February 2013, the Commission has been addressing four key issues facing the high seas, with the aim of restoring the global ocean to ecological health and sustainable productivity. In the autumn of 2014, the Commission will deliver its ‘bold vision’ – a set of recommendations, which though broad in scope and radical in nature will be politically and technically feasible.
Shortly after launch, Communications INC was tasked with delivering ongoing communications support: strategy, back-up and specific services. We currently:
In the face of extraordinary challenges, Island Hospice provides palliative care and support services to people with terminal illnesses and their carers (all too often, children) in Zimbabwe. For its thirtieth anniversary, Communications INC developed and ran a fundraising and media strategy to help the hospice establish a network of supporters and donors to help with the increasing number of people requiring its services. Over the anniversary year, we organised a fundraising event, oversaw fundraising applications to relevant bodies, conducted media outreach to increase the profile of the hospice with potential donors, and established a UK support group.
Communications INC has been responsible for all of DSCC’s communications since shortly after the Coalition was founded to highlight the devastating impacts of bottom trawling on the seabed. We act as a member of the Coalition Coordination Team, providing advice and strategic direction and then delivering the campaigns. We manage the website www.savethehighseas.org; run a media outreach programme across each region of the world; produce publications in multiple languages and dispatch them around the globe; develop and manage special events; lobby opinion-formers; and look after the day-to-day running of their communications.
Highlights include putting on a film at the United Nations in New York accompanied by popcorn and deep-sea cocktails; the fun but impactful web-based ‘I’m Worth Saving’ campaign highlighting less-appealing endangered ocean animals; tracking an orange roughy from New Zealand to Cornwall in the UK; and issuing report cards for fisheries management organisations to rate their performance.
Onboard from inception, Communications INC acted as the Shark Alliance’s in-house communications team, working with them until we successfully achieved both of the Alliance’s main aims – an EU plan of action for sharks and the strengthening of the EU shark finning regulation, which came into force in 2013 and means a total ban on finning sharks at sea and dumping their carcasses overboard.
Our work involved developing, coordinating and implementing the Shark Alliance’s communications strategy. We provided a full media service, developed and implemented the branding of the Alliance, set-up and ran its website and wrote, designed and produced print, online and audio-visual campaign material. We also provided budget management, supported and advised its members, and developed and managed high-profile events in key EU member states.
Communications INC was taken on to help IANSA, an international network of civil society organisations against gun violence and pro human safety, to develop a communications campaign in support of its lobbying work.
We began by reforming the small arms issue in accessible and compelling language and ensured that all communications materials reflected this approach. Next, with a view to bringing both the issues and the organisation to the fore, we planned and executed an extensive media campaign aimed at opinion formers in key territories as well as the general public. Finally, based on regular evaluation of the campaign, we developed a long-term strategy to help the issue remain a global priority.
Communications INC began working with the GCCA (Global Call for Climate Action) on its TckTckTck campaign after the disappointing outcome of the Climate Change Conference, CoP15. To move the campaign forward, we created a new communications vision and strategy that included reframing climate change for the years ahead. This had a significant component of working with unusual suspects, from the entertainment media to businesses.We then evolved a series of products, including a style guide and annual report, provided media training, and supported the GCCA around specific media moments.
