While June has seen the summer temperatures rising, at Agenda we’ve been doing our best to demonstrate how cool heads and good comms can take the heat out of increasingly polarised debate.
Around 50 civil society communicators and experts on public attitudes, narrative change and strategic comms came together at the beginning of the month for Agenda’s ‘Changing hearts and minds: Countering harmful narratives’ event. Many ideas were shared, strategies tested and networks strengthened – read more.
Messaging
Good case studies always help to lift a story, so we were pleased to work with SOR members who shared their experiences about being filmed by patients. The story secured widespread print and broadcast coverage.
We’ve been supporting BALPA to develop its pilot fatigue campaign – nailing down outcomes and objectives and thinking about both member comms and the key messages for media. Working with pilots and BALPA’s in-house safety experts, we’ve been helping them consider the narrative arc of their campaign and the framing needed to reach different audiences.
The WEA released their 2025 Impact Report this month, so we helped them turn their findings into a press release arguing that proposed funding cuts to adult learning will have a negative knock-on effect for the NHS and social services.
As part of the messaging playbook we’re helping to develop with Centrepoint, we’ve been running workshops with colleagues on how to turn standard narratives about their programmes into short messages for different audiences.
Projects
We’ve reached out to a number of digital agencies on behalf of Nautilus International and identified three with the right mix of experience and skills to deliver a fantastic new website. Next we’ll send out a detailed ‘request for proposal’ document, book in pitch meetings and hopefully appoint the new supplier by the end of the month.
Becky joined the World Habitat team and a room full of housing experts from all over the world to discuss new ways to help create affordable homes and address the root causes of homelessness – more here.
Supporting people to strengthen their communication skills is central to what we do, so we’re thrilled to be working closely with some talented people. Our coaching provides a supportive environment where individuals can explore challenges, unpack opportunities and build confidence in their comms work.
Comms planning can feel overwhelming in today’s fast-moving world, but staying ahead is possible. One of the ways we’ve been supporting clients over the past month is to help them identify and respond to political upheaval, shifts in narrative, and new influencers and decision-makers. If there’s anything we can help you with, get in touch for a chat.
