Transcript Communicating With Families

Strengthening Resilience – Strategy Session
“Communicating With Families”
A Shared Responsibility
Julie Leblanc
Senior Manager, Communications & Marketing
28 September 2015
Session Objectives
• Update on Communications & Marketing Working Group activities
& current MFS approach for communications & marketing
• Highlight tangible examples of communications tactics from
various MFRCs
• Collectively discuss shared responsibility for communicating with
families
• Discuss challenges and successes
CF Ombudsman & Chief Review Services
Recommendations:
• It is recommended that the CF, including CF leadership, take positive
action to communicate more coherently, consistently and forthrightly to,
and with, military families.
• To increase the profile and awareness across CF locations of available MFS
resources, develop a national marketing/promotion plan. This plan should
be representative of all MFS programs and services and inclusive of all
military families.
MFS Communications & Marketing WG
Objective:
• Develop an integrated strategic communications and marketing plan for
the Military Family Services Program for 2014-2017;
• Share best practices, resources and approaches in communications and
marketing;
• Develop a national approach and campaign to improve awareness of
resources;
• Develop a shared lexicon and key messages;
• Develop shared tools and resources that can be used by all partners; and
• Champion the work of the Communications and Marketing Working Group
with their counterparts and peers at Military Family Resource Centre.
MFS Communications & Marketing WG
Strategic Approach:
• Through communications & marketing, support programming that
contributes to the well-being of CAF families in facing the unique
challenges of military life, enabling a mission-ready force that protects
Canadians and Canadian interests across the country and around the
world.
• C&M WG Plan- developed to guide communications & marketing national,
regional, and local efforts with the objective for:
 More coherent communications
 Increased awareness
 Engaged families
Challenges ?
•
•
•
•
•
Dependence on member for communicating with families
Social, cultural and linguistic diversity of the military family community
Geographic dispersion of military families
Fluid, dynamic nature of service life
Lack of coordination and responsibility for communications function
between MFS and MFRCs
Successes ?
• MFS Strategic Communications Plan, Tactical Plan & Narrative (available at
https://www.cfmws.com/en/AboutUs/MFS/Working%20Groups/Pages/Communicationsand-Marketing-Working-Group.aspx
• All Comms Network (teleconferences with all MFRC Comms staff, every 6
weeks)
• Sub-committees created, review of comms materials, sharing of resources
& best practices
Successes: MFRC-Inspired Communications
1. Valcartier Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=15&v=NDvfwoBcsPY
2. Trenton – http://living.bayofquinte.ca/2015/06/18/8things-trenton-military-family-resource-centre/
3. Shilo Video https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kxpz970z2xm13gl/AAAzysQ
U7z0B0BTgt0sK4FxAa?dl=0&preview=MFRC-03.mp4
Sharing the Responsibility
Keys to Success:
• Concerted Effort – We have to want to improve the
communications function and make an effort to do so
• Assertive, explicit action – Proactive approach. What is worth
doing, is worth communicating
• Leadership-driven – Acknowledgment by leadership that the
function is critical
• Outcome-focused – Families are aware; they are engaged; their
needs are met; they are resilient
• Agile – Responsive to families’ needs, using many channels &
approaches
• Patience – years of dissatisfaction has shaped perception. Small
successes will drive reputation and change behaviours
Three Key Priorities
Communications & Marketing Priority Activities
2015-2016
FamilyForce
Convergence
MFSP 25th
Anniversary
Branding
-1 combined mobileresponsive platform
-Intuitive access and
navigability of all
related info for CAF
members and their
families
-Common look and
feel, same experience
from location to
location
-Jan 1/2016
-Objective is to
increase engagement
and awareness with
military families
-Mobilize efforts and
partners for maximum
benefit
-Desired common
look and feel
-Desired common
experience from
location to location
-Desired common
products, content
Three Key Priorities
Communications & Marketing Priority Activities
2015-2016
FamilyForce
Convergence
-1 combined mobileresponsive platform
-Intuitive access and
navigability for families
-Common look and
feel, same experience
from location to
location
-complex bilingual site
-38 locations & 76 administrators & 100+
authors
-locked down to ensure common, look and feel
& complex roles/permissions
-DWAN environment
-Out-of-Box vs Custom features
-Site will be handed over to MFRC locations in
mid-fall
Three Key Priorities
Communications & Marketing Priority Activities
2015-2016
MFSP 25th
Anniversary
-Jan 1/2016
-Objective is to
increase engagement
and awareness with
military families
-Mobilize efforts and
partners for maximum
benefit
-Create radio & video PSA (Valcartier PSA
repurposed)
-Boosting social media engagement for 3
access points
-Mobilize partnerships (CANEX,
CFAppreciation, Museums, etc)
-National Military Family Month proclamation by
Federal Government TBC (Nov ’16)
Three Key Priorities
Communications & Marketing Priority Activities
2015-2016
Branding
-Desired common look
and feel
-Desired common
experience from
location to location
-Desired common
products, content
-Common look and feel of resources (Family
Guide, You’re Not Alone, VAC Journal)
-Sharing of best practices and info through all
Comms staff TechNet
-Defining our branding proposition for families
What Families Are Telling Us?
•
It's impossible to know what to expect or what the best way to receive
service info is base to base, and in the whirlwind of change a family is
experiencing during a posting having a standardized welcome package for
them (and I lean toward an actual, tangible and inviting package of
community and MFRC materials) would be a lovely constant to have.
•
" a continuity of services at all MFRCs ... with the same look and feel (you
know what to expect and can identify an MFRC no matter where you go).“
•
" consistency of vital services from one MFRC to the next. The military is
essentially the same from post to post regardless of the regional
differences .... Families also need this consistency."
What families are seeing?
Branding Defined
• There is a difference between marketing and branding.
• Marketing is actively promoting a product or service or
event - Push tactic.
• Branding is the expression of the value of an
organization, product, or service. It is communication
of characteristics, values, and attributes – Pull tactic
• Promoting a product or service by identifying it with a
particular look so that it facilitates your growth and
sustainability as an entity. Branding is about making a
product or service familiar.
Branding – Strategic Intent
• It’s about “FAMILIES”. What’s best for families and how
this could improve their experience as a “military” family.
But….there are ultimate benefits for MFRCs:
-Standard templates to use (Welcome Guides,
pamphlets, website, etc.)
-Lower costs to produce local materials. Ability to produce
centrally and leverage economies of scale
-Reduced local staff hours creating original materials
Branding – Let’s Roll Up Our Sleeves
• Defining “Character” – 3 key traits/characteristics that define
“Services for Military Families”
• What is the “Current Family Experience”?
• What is the “Future Family Experience”?
Our Final Thought…
“Our job is to connect to people, to interact
with them in a way that leaves them better
than we found them, more able to get where
they’d like to go.”
Seth Godin