Baiba: Slack Communications is going through a period of change. How is the business evolving?
Becky: It has been brilliant having Vic as co-owner/co-director this year. Since her appointment became official in April, we’ve been able to put our collective brains and experience together and find ways to create even better communications for our clients.
Vic: We’ve been exploring how to combine Becky’s track record within charities and the media with my experience in trade unions and membership organisations to enhance the services we currently provide and add new offers to the mix. And whether we should do this under a completely new brand. And we’ve come to the conclusion that we should.
Becky: Yes – new name, new offers, but same high-quality service that has been delivering really effective communications for social impact organisations for the last nine and a half years. It’s really exciting!
Baiba: it does sounds exciting! Tell us more!
Becky: Vic is brilliant at managing large teams and complex campaigns that are about creating real change for ordinary people. I’ve recently completed a Masters in Political Strategy and Communications at the Brussels School of International Studies and want to apply what I learnt to the way in which we work – studying communications theory has shown me there’s potential to shift attitudes and behaviours if we think and do things differently.
New name, new offers, but same high-quality service!
Importantly, we’ve been looking to find ways to up the ante when it comes to making a difference. I’ve always been driven by the desire to create social change. Vic also wants to create a fairer, more inclusive world. Evidenced by both of our careers and the sectors we’ve worked in. We want to partner with organisations that have the same values and same big ambitions.
Vic: Although we’ve got loads of experience in helping clients with their communications strategies, we’re aware that we’re very close to our particular project and some fresh eyes would be helpful and necessary. We’ve been having a wonderful time with Natasha Roe from Red Pencil and Helen Holden from Helen Holden Design, honing our vision and mission, and thinking about ways in which to articulate what we do and how we do it. We’ve looked at what other people do, whom we admire and would like to emulate or learn from, and whom we definitely don’t want to be like – which is just as important! Our brand needs to be very clear for our clients: why should they work with us, what can we achieve with and for them.
And the same goes for our associates. We’ve already got a great team of very talented comms professionals who share our values. With our new offers, we will need to extend this team – to increase our capacity and make sure we’ve got all the skills we need. We want to attract and retain the very best expertise.
Baiba: How will the services offered by Slack Communications change?
Vic: We’ve focused on what our clients want and need, which clients we love working with and where we do our best work, where there are gaps in the market. Also, we have clients and associates in the UK and across Europe so we’ve been looking at how we can offer something a bit extra, to help people communicate more effectively in this post-Brexit world.
With all this in mind, some of what we’ve developed is about doing what we already do even better, and some of it is about new offers.
We’ve focused on what our clients want and need
Becky: We have always offered a wide range of services that encompass all areas of communications. We love to do communications strategy, we’ve secured extensive media coverage with our PR consultancy, and we’ve an excellent team of writers who craft beautiful inspiring words. All this remains in place. It will be supplemented with new CRM consultancy and The Comms Lab. The aim being to provide comms services that help clients at every step of the way.
Our CRM work uses our current team’s previous experience of implementing data management systems and analysing data to inform communications activities. We’ve tested the water with this recently – we helped Mission44 with procuring a new system and delivered training for a group of unions on how to start mapping requirements. We’ve had good feedback and so are looking to do more of this in 2023 and beyond.
The Comms Lab uses comms theory, scientific study and expert insight to dig deep into strategic messaging and positioning to create bold narratives and campaigns which change hearts and minds. We’re in the midst of piloting this and hope to have results to announce in the new year.
Vic: Clients will still be able to hire us to write their comms strategies, deliver one-off tactical campaigns or put us on retainer for specific areas of comms, such as PR or social media management.
Or they can hire us as their in-house comms team to deliver their comms strategy: we can bring in the relevant skillsets as they’re needed, which means clients don’t need to recruit loads of staff – the idea being that it makes strategic communications more affordable and manageable.
What can clients expect from you?
Vic: We want to make sure our clients have the very best experience when they work with us. We work collaboratively with them, digging deep into their motivations, previous experiences and ways of working. We’re not inclined to follow instructions without questioning, which means we might politely challenge clients on what they think they want. But we’re always on their side and we really want them to succeed. We don’t simply tell people what to do – as well as offering guidance, we coach people, train them and their teams, and of course, roll up our sleeves and do the hard work alongside them.
We want to make sure we’re doing good work, so will be improving the way in which we measure our impact – be that tangible outcomes such as audience engagement or money raised, and less tangible outcomes such as increased skills and confidence within the team, or improved systems and processes that benefit the organisation and the people they want to help
Becky: We want to be a financially and socially sustainable business. This isn’t just about income, but also about professional success and personal wellbeing. Trying to tackle the world’s most pressing social challenges is difficult and can be stressful and emotionally draining. We try and take some of the strain off our clients and make sure people are psychologically safe while we’re working with them. Clients have told us that they enjoy working with us and that we’re approachable and friendly, while also feeling confident in our ability to deliver. Our new brand and services will continue to reflect this culture.
What happens next?
Vic: First of all, we’re going to be taking some time off to rest over the Christmas period. Then in 2023, we’ll be bringing everything together and sharing what we’ve learnt – what’s worked, what hasn’t worked. And we will be announcing our new brand! Keep an eye on this blog for more details as to when!
