Communication Plan structure

Communication Plan
the opportunity to develop a communication plan for a real-world client’s employees and
other internal stakeholders.
researching the client and its broader context to produce a strategic plan which effectively
supports those stakeholders manage an impending corporate issue.
Successful students will demonstrate the ability to generate meaningful insights about the
business, its image, identity and reputation. Those students will also furnish a suitable
strategy for the organisation, together with a range of well-aligned tactics.
Specifically, students will be evaluated on their ability to:
 Research the organisation
 Understand the key concepts which are integral to such a plan
 Demonstrate creativity in the forms of an appropriate strategy and supporting tactics
 Produce clear written expression and a professional format

PR pitches, plans and reports always follow basic layout guidelines. Word counts are
suggestions only. Take note that you are developing a plan that suits internal and external
audiences.

1. Use headings and subheadings.

2. 12 point font, 1.5 line spacing, header / footer with page numbers.

Executive Summary (300 words)

A great Executive Summary incorporates the essence of the plan. Essentially, you are condensing
a plan of 2000 words into an overview of 300.

Include the following in your Executive Summary:

 The PR situation;
 Your campaign strategy, and how the strategy will achieve the client’s overall goal;
 How that strategy will come to life through your tactics. Merely give a flavour of the
tactical.

Tip: while the Executive Summary appears at the top of the document, it is the last thing you
should write!

Background (500 words)

The research presented here should demonstrate your understanding of the situation based on
your own research and provide a logical, persuasive foundation for your proposed campaign. To
do so, you should offer some useful insights into the organisation and its industry. In addition,
you should succinctly analyse the contextual factors which underpin the situation. In short,
produce insights which the client doesn’t know, rather than the information they do.

Target Audiences (150 words)

Your research efforts continue as you identify the key publics involved in the situation. There’s
been much written in the Australian print media about PwC’s circumstances, which will assist you
in detailing those groups and individuals inside and outside the organisation. You can tabulate
this section, or use an appropriate framework to demonstrate how best to prioritize such
audiences.

Campaign Objectives (150 words)

The goal of the plan is, primarily, to rebuild PwC’s reputation in the eyes of stakeholders.
However, you need to develop specific, measurable objectives for the plan. Three objectives will
be sufficient but be mindful of offering the reader a timeline for each of these.

Campaign Strategy (200 words)

Explain your overall campaign strategy clearly and succinctly. Your strategy should support the
organisation meet the objectives set out above. Basically, this is the ‘big idea’ which is at the
heart of your plan. A strategy is conceptual in nature and is brought to life by way of your tactics.

Key Messages (250 words)

List the key messages you want to communicate. Your messages should flow from your research,
target audiences and strategy sections. Note that your messages need to work for all your
stakeholders. A maximum of three messages will suffice.

Key Tactics (250 words)

You need to recommend ideas for tactics, including appropriate media channels, but as
highlighted above – the tactics must be aligned with the strategy. Justify what media you will be
leveraging and why? Again, a maximum of three tactics will suffice.

Major Risks (200 words)

Any plan has inherent risks. What do you believe to be the major threats to your rebuilding plan?
Again, three risks will be sufficient.

Provide a strong closing statement explaining why your campaign will meet (or even exceed!) the
organisation’s needs.
 - No more than two or three references (from news outlets both print and broadcast and online of
course.
- Including the values at the heart of this business. The vision, the purpose.
- Background (contextual factor: political the economic the social cultural, what are the factors that
are underpinning this incident? )

Crises like this don’t happen by accident. Factor come together to create the circumstances
for the incident. So make sure you’re researching fully.
Key concept like:
- Legitimacy such as social capital and reputation.