Advisory ToolkiT 1 – jAnuAry 2014

COMMUNICATIONSTRATEGIES FOR TRADE NEGOTIATIONSA PRACTICAL GUIDE

Written by Sue Martin, TAF communications adviser, with contributions from Michael Johnson and Petra Vallila.

This material has been funded by UK aid from the UK Government. However the views expresseddo not necessarily reflect the UK Government’s official policies.

This toolkit is provided solely for educational purposes. Neither the author nor the publisheroffer it as professional services advice. While best efforts have been used in preparing this book,the author and publisher assume no liabilities of any kind with respect to the contents. Neitherthe author nor the publisher shall be held liable or responsible to any person or entity withrespect to any loss or incidental or consequential damages caused, or alleged to have beencaused, directly or indirectly, by the information contained herein, of any kind with respect to thecontents.

© Trade Advocacy Fund 2014

For more information, please visit the Trade Advocacy Fund website atwww.tradeadvocacyfund.com.

Contents

introducing the Trade Advocacy Fund 2

using the communications toolkit 3

PArT onE: 4Types of trade negotiations

PArT TWo: 5How to develop a communications strategy and action plan

PArT THrEE: 7Building your communications strategy: a step-by-step guide to the essential elements

1. Review 72. Objectives 83. Audiences 104. Internal communications 125. Messages 146. Channels and tools 167. Budget and resources 208. Timeline 219. Style 2210. Monitoring and evaluation 22

PArT Four: 24Contracting out your communications

Templates 26i. Communications strategy template 26ii. Communications action plan 27iii.Terms of reference for 29communicationscontractor(s)

Please see www.tradeadvocacyfund.com for downloadable templates

references 32

Acronyms

AsEAn: Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Au: African Union

CoMsEC: Commonwealth Secretariat

Cso: Civil Society Organisation

dFid: Department for International Development

ECoWAs: Economic Community Of West African States

EPA: Economic Partnership Agreement

Eu: European Union

Hr: Human resources

iMF: International Monetary Fund

iP: Intellectual Property

ldC: Least Developed Country

liC: Lower Income Country

lMiC: Lower Middle Income Country

M&E: Monitoring and evaluation

oECd: Organisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment

rEC: Regional Economic Community (for example,ECOWAS)

rnC: Regional Negotiating Committee

sAArC: South Asian Association for RegionalCooperation

sWoT: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities andthreats

unCTAd: United Nations Conference on Trade andDevelopment

unECA: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

unEsCAP: Economic and Social Commission for AsiaPacific

WiPo: World Intellectual Property Organization

WTo: World Trade Organization

2

International trade agreements cover many different economic, technical and legal issues. Developing countriesoften lack the human, financial and technical resources which are necessary to develop well-informed trade policypositions and to negotiate trade deals which benefit their economies. They may lack access to high quality trade policyanalysis and negotiation skills.

The united kingdom department for international development (dFid)has set up the Trade Advocacy Fund (TAF) toprovide short-term, demand-driven, hands-on support to key trade policy makers and negotiators in Least DevelopedCountries (LDCs), Lower Income Countries (LICs), Lower Middle Income Countries (LMICs) and Regional EconomicCommunities (RECs) or other representative organisations that have members who are eligible. TAF provides:

Impartial information, analysis and advice on the technical and legal aspects of trade negotiations and disputes●and on formulating negotiating positions;

Training, capacity building and internships for relevant officials and organisations;●

Limited logistical support to participate in negotiations, disputes and key policy meetings.●

TAF is managed on behalf of DFID by a dedicated Fund Manager:Crown Agentsand saana Consulting.

Countries need to participate in different types of trade negotiations. Some of these take place within and accordingto the rules of multilateral institutions, and members have to implement the obligations which they accept underthose agreements. Each category of negotiations poses different demands and challenges. TAF assistance is tailoredto match the specific demands of the applicant in relation to actual or planned negotiations. It responds to real,practical needs.

TAF publishes a series of toolkits that provide developing countries with step-by-step guidance on key aspects ofinternational trade negotiations.

See www.tradeadvocacyfund.com for details.

INTRODUCTION Introducing the Trade Advocacy Fund

Each category of negotiations posesdifferent demands and challenges“ ”

3

Any successful negotiation has to be based on wellthought-out policy, and that requires good informationabout national economic and social conditions.Governments and RECs which engage in tradenegotiations need effective procedures for gathering theviews and advice of those affected by the negotiations,and for communicating the key points about the policyand practical outcomes to those ‘stakeholders’ and to thewider public.

This communications toolkit is intended to help peoplewho make trade policy and negotiate on behalf ofgovernments to communicate with their nationalstakeholders in trade. The term ‘stakeholders’ meansanyone with an interest in trade or affected by trade,including other government ministries, manufacturers,farmers and traders, as well as civil society organisationsand the general public.

The toolkit aims to help governments of countries thatare eligible for TAF assistance and RECs of which they are

members, but we hope that the straightforwardguidance which it sets out will be useful to anyone whogets involved in international negotiations of any kind.

It assumes that you aren’t a communications specialistand probably have limited resources. It can be used bypeople with no formal experience of communicationsplanning, and we’ve tried to offer a range of optionssuitable for different country contexts. Although it’smainly intended for people working on trade issues,some of the toolkit content can be helpful in planninggeneral public information campaigns or seeking toinfluence international policy in other sectors.

If your organisation has a communications departmentor specialist communications staff (for example, websitemanagers or a head of media), the toolkit will help you todecide how they might help. If you don’t have access tocommunications staff but hope to obtain funding for thistype of support, the toolkit will help you to plan prioritiesand terms of reference.

Using the communications toolkit

BOX 1

How to use the toolkit

The toolkit is not designed to be read straightthrough. We suggest that when you have aparticular question you begin by turning to thecontents page and selecting the topic that concernsyou. For example, if you have difficulty getting yourcolleagues to communicate consistent messages,go to Part Three, section 5 on page 14.

If you have been asked to produce acommunications strategy, turn to ‘The essentialelements of a communications strategy’ (page 5)and use it as a step-by-step guide. You’ll find a set oftemplates to support you through different parts ofthe process annexed at page 26, and online onwww.tradeadvocacyfund.com.

What the toolkit isn’t

The toolkit is not a guide to negotiation skills,although sections 3.1 and 3.3 will help you plan howto promote your trade interests to internationalstakeholders. A separate toolkit gives guidance onhow to prepare for and manage international tradenegotiations.

It’s not a blueprint for internal governmentorganisation, although Part Three, section 4 willhelp you to plan your internal communications.

4

PART I Trade – or trade-related – negotiations don’t only take

place in the major trade bodies such as the WTO. Thereare many international bodies which negotiate for andadminister agreements on highly technical matters suchas industrial and health standards, intellectual property(IP) protection, air and sea transport, environmentalprotection, labour standards, customs procedures andso on. These agreements have direct and immediateimpacts on trade, and this toolkit is designed to guideyou on communications related to the trade aspects ofsuch technical negotiations too.

When we talk about trade policy we mean two separatebut linked things: first, the ways in which governmentswork together in organisations to set the rules by whichinternational trade is conducted; and second, how theyact individually to regulate their own trade within thoserules. Typically trade policy focuses on opening marketsand removing trade barriers. It also covers a wide rangeof technical matters, such as:

Policies and procedures for setting import tariffs;•procedures for valuing and where appropriatelicensing imports; testing of imported goods forconformity with national standards; use of ‘tradedefence’ measures such as anti-dumping orcountervailing duties, or safeguard restrictions onimports which are disruptive to domestic industry;and ensuring that national regulation, for example inthe field of services, does not operate to restrict accessto the domestic market.

Governments get involved in different sorts ofinternational trade negotiations:

Multilateral negotiations:determining the rules that•individual governments or groups of nations agree tofollow in the operation of their own trade policies,most importantly in the WTO, but also involvinginitiatives and agreements in other multilateral bodiessuch as the IMF, World Bank, UNCTAD, World Customs

Organisation, WIPO, OECD and the variousinternational bodies in which technical issues arediscussed and rules and standards are agreed

At plurilateral or bilateral levels: the negotiation of•agreements between two or more individualcountries to remove or reduce barriers in each other’smarkets; to grant each other preferential entryconditions on reciprocal terms; or to apply commonstandards and procedures in their wider internationaltrade.

This definition of international trade policy does notinclude export promotion – the process by whichgovernments work with national industries and tradersto identify and develop outlets in foreign markets.Governments compete with one another for exportsand usually prefer to set up their own export promotionschemes.

The need to communicate

So if you work in international trade at national orregional levels you may be involved in a wide range oftrade negotiations, as well as in the formulation of tradepolicies which those negotiations set out to implement.Trade specialists need to keep a wide range ofstakeholders informed about the likely impact of theirwork and, increasingly, to get involved in a range ofcommunications activities. These typically fall into twomain areas:

Developing strategies for increasing stakeholder and•public understanding and acceptance of tradepriorities – for example, the importance of openingmarkets for both imports and exports in order toimprove competitiveness

Using communications as a tool to achieve a more•effective role for your government or organisation ininternational trade negotiations.

PART I Types of trade negotiations

5

PART II

Trade specialists need good systems for gathering theviews of trade stakeholders, as well as for telling themabout what your government is doing in negotiationsand what it means for them. you may opt for one overalltrade communications strategy and action plan, or youmay prefer to have an individual strategy, action planand time frame for each major trade negotiation.

You need to develop approaches to address particularaudience sectors. Typical examples are internal (or‘staff’) communications, and external policy influence(or ‘lobbying’), which embraces both interestedstakeholders in your own economy and representativesin the countries you are negotiating with. Thesesubsectors often require different or additionalresources, for example:

internal communications – you may need internal•approval or to negotiate with work councils or unions

to engage with staff directly; internal channels such asa staff intranet or staff meetings may be available toyou

external policy influence– may require substantial•resources (airfares, costs of arranging overseas events)and hiring expertise (in-country contractors).

Each plan that you introduce brings new demands(management, ensuring co-ordination, internalcommunication and avoiding timing clashes) if you areto ensure a strong relationship between the differentelements of your strategy. It is more efficient, and lessstressful, to work with the smallest number of plans thatmeet your needs (See also Part Three, Objectives).

The essential elements of a communicationsstrategy

A realistic strategy will help you to work within yourmeans and manage expectations. Organisationssometimes have unrealistic expectations of the impactthat can be achieved. You may also be under pressure toachieve results that look impressive (national mediacoverage, for example) but that don’t have real impacton the interests and people who matter.

You can adapt your approach to suit your aims andorganisation, but all communications strategies shouldinclude:

review– How have we communicated in the past? Howeffective was it? What could we have done better? Whathas changed?

objective(s)– What do we want our communications toachieve? How do we align our objectives withorganisational objectives?

Audiences– Who are our key audiences? How shouldwe decide who are most important to us and how bestto reach them?

Messages– What do we want to say? Do we have thesame messages for different audiences – or multiplemessages? How do we ensure consistency?

Channels and tools– Which channels or communicationtools would be best to get our message across to ouraudience?

PART II How to develop acommunications strategyand action plan

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY AND A COMMUNICATIONS ACTION PLAN?

See Annex and www.tradeadvocacyfund.com for acommunications strategy template.

COMMUNICATIONSSTRATEGY

• Focuses onrationale

COMMUNICATIONSACTION PLAN

• Focuses on implementation

• ‘What’ and ‘why’are key

• ‘Who’, ‘when’ and ‘how’ are key

• Medium to long-term time frame

• Short tomedium-termtimeframe, or a rolling plan,regularlyupdated

6

PART II

Budget and resources– What resources do we need todeliver our strategy? Can our strategy be deliveredwithout costing too much? What skills and resources dowe already have?

Timeline– What’s our deadline? What are the milestones(events, deadlines)?

style– How do we develop a consistent approach withour audiences so as to build up trust and get ourmessages over clearly?

Monitoring and evaluation – How do we check that ourstrategy is on track? What impact are we having? Whatchanges do we need to make?

Part Three tackles at each of these elements in turn, withthe additional element of internal communications, anessential but often-neglected area.

It is also useful to set out any elements outside the scopeof your strategy. For example:

‘Areas not in the scope of this strategy include: datamanagement strategy; detailed web specification; designdevelopment.’

See Annex i for two communications strategy template.

The essential elements of an action plan

A successful communications action plan will help youand your colleagues to organise your thinking aboutimplementation of your strategy. It will help you toclarify thinking about:

the type of sign-off and governance arrangements•needed to implement your plan

what needs to be done •

deadlines for each stage of activity•

who needs to be involved (particularly other internal•stakeholders such as communications staff orprocurement)

who co-ordinates communications activity•

how you will know if deadlines are not metor if things•go wrong.

Action plans can take many forms, from a simple ‘to do’list if you are working alone, to more comprehensivesystems.

See Annex ii for two communications action plantemplates to suit different needs.

A successful communications actionplan will help you and your colleaguesto organise your thinking

“”

7

PART III

1. Review How have you communicated in the past? Howeffective was it? What could you have done better?

What’s the situation?

What’s changed? If trade policy work has been going onfor some time, why have you decided to do more workon communications now? For example:

Launch of a new negotiation•

New phase of trade negotiations, or talks nearing•agreement

New people at the top, or change of government•

Potential new resources or funding•

Something’s gone wrong, and you need to rethink•your approach

New stakeholders have emerged. •

Assessing the situation

One way of taking stock of your situation or the policycontext is to undertake a ‘SWOT’ analysis. SWOT standsfor: Strengths; Weaknesses; Opportunities; Threats.

It’s designed to help you capture all the internal andexternal factors that may have an impact on yourstrategy. It helps you to clear your mind, and it can berun as a sophisticated exercise with lots of data, or as aquick brainstorm alone or with colleagues.

Strengths and weaknesses are typically internal, relatingto what you can do. Opportunities and threats aretypically external, namely the possibilities and problemsyou meet. Issues may appear in more than one sectionof the SWOT chart: for example, a new trade agreementoffers opportunities if negotiations go in your favour,but threats in the areas where you don’t achieve yournegotiating aims.

PART III Building yourcommunications strategy –a step-by-step guide

BOX 2: SAMPLE SWOT ANALYSIS

This template is only an illustration. Fill in your own version. Be as honest as possible. If there are issues you don’t feelable to share with colleagues, it’s still important that you capture these for yourself. You can factor the issue into yourstrategy later. If you have little time, set a limit of ten minutes and see what you come up with.

EXAMPLE

StrengthsExport strengths in particular industries or servicesEffective staff in trade policy unit

WeaknessesPoor internal communications and information flowHostile relations between key government ministriese.g. Ministry of Finance and Ministry of TradeLimited resources and no dedicated staff to supportcommunications effort

OpportunitiesFavourable international growth climateEconomic Partnership Agreement negotiationsrestartedPossible donor funding to support a member of staff innegotiating centre such as Geneva UNCTAD event in region later this yearMore potential for support/advocacy from privatesector?

ThreatsKey export industries are not internationallycompetitiveEconomic Partnership Agreement negotiations –uncertainty in key areasNeighbouring countries are better resourced for tradenegotiations Civil society says we overlook gender or human rightsissues (maybe they’re right?)

8

PART III

Areas to consider include:

What your trade policy aims to achieve •

Organisational and individual strengths, values and•expertise

Political and economic contexts•

Resources •

Your track record – past successes and challenges in•trade and/or communications

Possible consequences of trade negotiations for other•policies (for example, employment)

The track record, approach and behaviour of your•partners, stakeholders and the ‘other side’ innegotiations.

It’s important to include any point that seemssignificant. You may find this difficult if the SWOT resultsmake uncomfortable reading and you plan to sharethem (for example, if they include internal weaknesses)but try not to censor yourself before you even startwriting.

2. ObjectivesWhat problem am i trying to solve?

For example, are you:

Consultingwith national stakeholders about what•your policy in a trade negotiation should be?

Trying to influencenegotiating partners (both those•on your own side and those who aren’t) to understandand support your position?

Trying to persuadenational stakeholders that a deal•that you have negotiated was the best you could get?

All these cases need different approaches, but there arecommon themes.

Getting started

Whether you are managing your own communicationsin-house or outsourcing (see Part Four), it’s important tobe clear in your own mind about what you hope toachieve. Clarity helps colleagues and outside experts tosupport you more effectively.

Think about these questions:

What problem do we hope to address? •

What do we want our communications to achieve? •

Do we want people to do something differently as a•result of our communications? If so, what, and how?

Do we need one communications strategy and action•plan for all our trade policy formulation andnegotiating activity (for example WTO, EPAs, regionalor bilateral agreements and negotiations in technicalbodies)? Or do we need a separate strategy for eachproject? If we have several strategies, how will weensure they are co-ordinated? Do we have theresources to do this?

Are there deadlines and key dates we need to plan for?•

Do we already have formal communications•objectives, and are these appropriate to the task?

It’s importantto includeany pointthat seemssignificant

“”

9

PART III

Remember, aims need to be aligned with organisationalobjectives. Avoid clashes of interest that will causeinternal wrangles later on.

What are your goals?

This section will help you to define what you want toachieve, and why.

Formal requirements:

You may have formal or legal communicationsrequirements as part of your own mandate, or as acondition of donor funding. If so, you need to takeaccount of this in your plan.

Cutting and pasting such aims into your draftcommunications strategy isn’t enough. It’s important todecide what you really want to achieve. It’s alsoimportant to have realistic aims based on your resourcesand available expertise. There’s more about targeting toaddress these issues in ‘Audiences’ (page 10).

Project aims:

If you’ve considered the questions earlier in this section,you’ve already done some thinking about how to defineyour goals. This next list will help you to refine these. Doyou want to:

change how you work (internally or externally)•

influence policy content (not just policies but•negotiation outcomes, budgets etc)

change attitudes (for example, towards your•negotiating approach or the image of yourorganisation)

change behaviour (for example, prepare for changes•in the law, gear up to export more if barriers to tradeare removed)

change relationships (internally or externally)•

develop partnerships or alliances, or raise funds •

build relationships with potential donors or raise•funds in other ways

BOX 3

A word about theories of change

some communications experts talk abouthaving a ‘theory of change’. This usually refersto social change – wanting people to dosomething differently.(See ‘Project aims’ below). In order to achieve this, you define appropriategoals and plan back from them, using a series ofdefined steps. You also need to establishmeasurable indicators to help you assessprogress (see page 22).

This toolkit will lead you through the mainsteps. (See Part Two and the communications strategytemplate on page 26).

you may feel that this is all too complicated –you just want to keep people informed. Even ifyou believe that is your sole aim, in reality it islikely that you want people to do somethingdifferently as a result of your communication. It might be as simple as visiting a website orattending a meeting, but is likely to be more far-reaching and may vary between audiences. Forexample, internationally, you may want toencourage negotiating partners to supportyour stance. At the same time, you may wantsmall businesses at home to understand howchanges in international trade rules will affectthem and to start preparing for such changes.

10

PART III

keep people informed (decide what results you want•to see)

encourage more feedback or involvement from•particular audiences?

After working through this section:

You should be able to develop an overall goal, and a setof three or four practical objectives, with one or twoexpected results attached to each (see Box 4 below).Limit the number of objectives: if there are too many,managing and tracking them becomes difficult.

3. Audiences This section will help you to define and prioritise theaudience groups you hope to engage with.

You need to identify and understand more about themost important people you want to communicate withso that you can ensure that your messages and widercommunications are relevant to them. This also makes iteasier to select the right channels and tools to reachthem.

You also need to assess whether audiences already wantyou to communicate with them – often referred to as a‘pull’ approach or ‘demand-led’. Or do you want to tellaudiences something that they might not be interestedin, or be opposed to – often referred to as a ‘push’approach or ‘supply-driven’? Your audiences may fallinto both ‘pull’ and ‘push’ categories.

Reaching audiences

Select your target audiences, and limit them to those•you really need to reach.

Be imaginative about how to reach difficult targets.•You’d be surprised at whom you – or colleagues –know, and how they might connect you with yourtargets.

Involve key colleagues in your own ministry, and in•other ministries concerned with trade, to work withyou in identifying audiences.

Who are the ‘stakeholders’ in trade?

Your potential stakeholders may have direct or indirectinterests in trade, and there can be a lot of them (see listbelow). When developing your own list, you may wantto divide them into ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ audiences.Primary audiences may be priorities either because theyhave key interests and you need their support, orbecause you want them to support you actively.Secondary audiences may become important later asyour trade plans develop – or they may stay ‘on hold’until you have the resources to reach them.

Depending on issues being negotiated, you may needto target your communications variously on:

EXAMPLE

BOX 4

Overall goal

To encourage small businesses nationally tounderstand and participate effectively in exportopportunities created by the country’s newtrade agreement(s), supported by joined-upgovernment communications. and improvedpolicy influence in international tradeorganisations.

Objectives will then be developed to addresseach aspect of the overall goal, for example:

Objective

Use communications effectively to strengthenour international negotiating position

Expected results

Greater support for our negotiating position•

Our position is reflected in international•business and specialist trade media andonline (eg international academic) debate

Strengthened negotiating position•

11

PART III

Government ministries with direct or indirect•responsibilities for trade (as well as the trade policyunit, these may include ministries of industry,business development, employment, finance, foreignaffairs, transport, environment and so on)

National bank, government agencies involved in tax•collection, export promotion, regulatory and/orstatutory bodies

Politicians (using whatever mechanism is appropriate•to ensure that Parliament and sub-national politiciansare briefed, if you are not allowed to engage withthem directly)

Manufacturers•

Exporters and importers•

Farmers•

The financial and services sectors•

Legal profession (any areas impacted by proposed•changes to law or regulation – for example,intellectual property)

Other business sectors (for example, small businesses,•an important but often hard-to-reach group). The

private sector often has relevant knowledge andexpertise that may be helpful to you. Considerapproaching professional associations, federations ofsmall businesses, chambers of commerce and otherbusiness groups that may disseminate news for you

Universities, research institutions and think-tanks•

The media (see section 6, page 16). If your country or•region has strong business media, try to trackjournalists who write knowledgably on trade matters

Key contacts in partner organisations •

Key contacts in neighbouring countries and in the•institutions of RECs

International donor agencies•

Civil society organisations and NGOs. Which CSOs and•NGOs in your country or region work on trade? Whichare engaged in raising public awareness on tradeissues? Bodies concerned with matters like gender,skills and environmental issues may also haveinterests in trade.

Trades unions, particularly in sectors where strong•unions and collective bargaining can impact on tradepolicy

Internal audiences (see Part Three, section 4 on•internal communications).

International audiences

In an international negotiation and depending on yourgeographical location and membership of multilateralor regional bodies you may need to seek support fromlike-minded countries, or understanding fromnegotiating partners, in:

Multilateral bodies such as WTO, UNCTAD, the•Commonwealth and WIPO

Regional bodies of which you are a member such as•the African Union (AU), ASEAN, ECOWAS, SAARC, andsimilar organisations

World Bank and regional Development Banks •

BOX 5

Audiences’ versus ‘stakeholders’

The difference between audiences andstakeholders is not always easy to define.Generally, ‘audiences’ include everyone that youwant to reach, whether they are activelyinvolved or passive (such as the wider public),and ‘stakeholders’ are assumed to be moredirectly involved in your interests, or likely tobecome involved as a result of yourcommunications (for example, civil servants inrelevant ministries, manufacturers, farmers,traders, workers and civil society bodies).However, the terms are often usedinterchangeably.

12

PART III

World Economic Forum contacts for your region•

Donors (especially those who offer support funding•for trade issues)

Organisations that may be on the other side of the•negotiating table (for example, in a wide range ofnegotiations, the EU)

International academic and research institutions that•specialise in trade

International media, particularly business and•specialist trade media.

There is a great deal of competition to get attentionwithin all these institutions and relationships, and manyother countries will be trying to influence them too.Begin by targeting and building contacts with a smallnumber of relevant individuals within priorityorganisations.

4. Internal communicationsyour internal communications task is likely to involvekeeping ministers in your government and thepoliticians who support it, and internal stakeholders,informed of your work on trade policy and negotiationsand getting constructive feedback from them.

Getting started

Any time and resources you can devote to internalcommunications at ‘working’ levels will pay dividends. Inthis context, ‘internal’ includes those involved in tradepolicy governance, external experts supporting yournegotiating team, and/or potentially some suppliersand funders, as well as staff.

As a guide, you may want to define stakeholders as‘internal’ if they are already involved in your trade policywork and are likely to act as brokers to engagement witha wider set of relevant stakeholders.

The general aims of your internal communications arethat:

members of staff see trade policy work and•negotiations as a priority

staff understand the contribution that they can make•to your success

staff understand any likely impact on their own work. •

Who are your audiences?

It’s common to think that employees are a homogenousgroup, but there can be important differences that willaffect the success of your communications. Questions toask include:

How do staff work? Full-time, part-time, shifts? •

How many staff, and how many different locations?•

Begin bybuildingcontactswith a smallnumber ofrelevantindividuals

“

”

13

PART III

Where might key staff be at a time of major change or•crisis? Do you see workers as belonging to different‘groups’? For example:

Management v staff? –

Union v non-uni on?–

Do you need to include contractors in your internalcommunications programme? For example, consultantsagencies, contractors such as IT or security staff?

What else do you need to know?

These questions may help you:

What type of organisation are you? •

Hierarchical? For example, if everything has to–happen ‘top down’, then communications cascades(see below) may be what you need

Or fairly informal, so that impromptu staff meetings–or displays in reception areas are acceptable?

Do you have some technical resources, such as a staff•intranet?

Do you need permission to engage with groups of•staff? Who is in charge of staff communications (forexample, human resources)?

Do workers’ unions need advance warning of any•direct communications with staff?

Is responsibility for trade matters split between•different ministries?

How confidential is the information you are sharing?•As a general rule, openness within government circlesis important, but obviously details of negotiatingstrategies should not be available for all to see. Makethe rules of the game clear on any information youshare – is it completely confidential, OK to share after acertain date, and so on?

Planning internal communications

Your strategy and plan should follow the sametemplates as your overall communications strategy andaction plan (see templates on pages 26–28). It may be anintegrated part of these plans and should certainly beconsistent with them.

Apart from segmenting internal audiences, the mainareas of difference are likely to be:

The potential for ‘quick wins’ – in an informal•organisation, you may be able to take action quitequickly

Resources available – budgets and staff •

The channels and tools you will use, such as•inexpensive notices or poster campaigns. Make use ofany systems your organisation already has for keepingstaff informed, such as: managers’ seminars, teambriefings, newsletters or communications cascades (astaff briefing that starts at the most senior levels, andis then rolled out by managers down through thehierarchy). However, use your judgement: if you knowthat current information systems are not effective orare not trusted by staff, search for alternatives

Evaluation (see Part Three, section 10).•

Make therules of thegame clearon anyinformationyou share

“

”

14

PART III

5. Messages Messages are the main points that you want tocommunicate when speaking about your project ororganisation, including explanation of a policy ornegotiating objective.

What do you want to say? Do you have the samemessages for different audiences – or multiplemessages?

Make your messages clear and memorable – this will paydividends. Clear unambiguous messages are alsoimportant if communications materials will betranslated into other languages.

MESSAGE FRAMEWORK

You can list your messages or use a framework to organise your messages and proof points in a way that helps to makethem memorable:

Overarching message

This might be a unique selling point (USP): eg. where are you are first, biggest, best?usE EvErydAy lAnguAgE

Key message I

statistics●

quotes●

Key message II

endorsements●

pictures, maps or●graphs

Key message III

case studies…●

Two or three proof points (ie, the evidence that best supports this message). Proof points can take any form:

Make yourmessagesclear andmemorable

“”

15

PART III

BOX 6

developing your key messages – checklist

Your messages should be consistent. If you change your messages too often, or have too many, youcan confuse your audiences

Messages are not slogans

‘In our trade negotiations, we are working to get the best possible deal for the people we•represent’ is a message

‘Trade not aid’ is a slogan •

Messages cover the what, who, where, when, why and how of your communications:

what you are doing•

who’s involved•

when and where it will happen•

why you’re doing it•

how you’re doing it•

the benefits – from the point of view of your audiences, not from yours•

Each message needs ‘proof points’ – key facts that support your message. Proof points can beadapted to appeal to the audience you are trying to reach, but it is helpful to find impressive factsand examples that you can use again and again

Keep messages consistent. If you have to adapt messages to be relevant to different audiences, try tokeep everything simple

One message = one idea. No more than three messages in any one communication: no more thanfive messages in total

Make messages clear, practical, factual. Avoid jargon, and don’t assume knowledge on the part ofyour audience

Consistency doesn’t mean that you have to learn and ‘parrot’ messages. Messages and proof pointscan be conveyed via pictures, graphs, case studies or other material

Use a message framework that works for you (see previous page).

16

PART III

6. Channels and tools small administrations and those with limited resourcesof both cash and manpower need to choose theircommunications channels particularly carefully .

Getting started

There is no easy answer to the question ”What worksbest?” Before deciding, consider:

The nature and complexity of trade policy means that•face-to-face communications and personal contactbetween you and key stakeholders are likely to beimportant

If cost, or organisational rules about public•appearances, make face-to-face meetings by officialsdifficult, consider providing private briefings toexperts and senior staff who can make publicappearances and speak to the media

If you have limited resources don’t spread them too•thinly, for example by trying to run newspaper advertswhen you can only afford one or two spots

Your choice of channels will also depend on where•your target audiences are based, their demographicsand preferences (these have an impact on the degreeto which you use social media, for example)

Try to resist pressure to use unsuitable channels•because of their assumed ‘prestige’ (for example,global newspaper titles) or because they are new (forexample, the latest social media). If these suit yourneeds, by all means use them. If they don’t, there areother tools and options that will be as effective.

BOX 7

Memorable facts

Campaigning organisations are often very goodat constructing simple, memorable messages.Learn from them, and use:

Examples drawn from everyday life that most•people will understand

Surprising numbers or statistics – and try to•make these easy to understand: for example,say ‘one in every four people’, not ‘25 percentof people’

Facts to make abstract ideas human: “The•number of children under five dying ofmalnutrition in our region is equivalent to 10jumbo jets filled with children crashing everyday and killing everyone on board.”Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security inAsia and the Pacific, ESCAP news release

Real life examples, and stories about people•are memorable, and popular with media

Quotations from members of the public (if•you use their names, get their permission first,or better, use a generic such as ‘small businessowner, Lilongwe’).

Before using any facts or evidence, beabsolutely certain that they are accurate, thatyou can quote a source if required, and that youhave permission to use the information inpublic.

17

PART III

Frequently used channels and tools:

This section offers an overview of the maincommunications channels and tools that you might use,although every situation is different, so it is difficult tooffer detailed guidance. If you plan to work withcommunications professionals, this section also givesyou some options to discuss with them.

Assembling your own toolkit

You’ll need a low-cost toolkit – a set of documents (printor online), updated regularly, that give all the importantfacts about your work. Include:

A one-page factsheet•

Your key message set (for internal use only)•

Short (200 word) biographies of your spokespeople •

Answers to frequently asked questions (consider the•10–12 questions that trade stakeholders really ask,such as: ‘why is this important?’ ‘what’s in it for us?’ or‘why are these trade negotiations taking so long?’)

Case studies (see below).•

Case studies

Case studies about people help audiences tounderstand what trade issues might mean to them.Media also like case studies, since they make tradeissues more human-looking and relevant to the public.Strong visuals to accompany case studies will offer amore attractive media package for what is otherwisequite a non-visual topic

A case study should be a maximum of one page and•should use simple language. See an example at:https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/market-women-secure-a-decent-trade-in-ghana.

The case study structure should outline a problem,•explain what happened next, and say how theproblem was resolved. For ongoing negotiations, ‘casestudies’ could be short descriptions of differentstakeholders showing how a new deal may affectthem.

Website

A website can be very useful, but only if it is updatedregularly. Consider:

Standalone website, or web pages as part of your•organisational site?

How will users find your website?•

Do you have the resources to deal with feedback•(emails, comment etc)?

Do you have the resources to keep your web pages•up-to-date in all the official languages you may workin?

Do your priority audiences have online access?•

Do you need permission to set up your web pages,•and from whom?

Would it be more effective to place your content on a•well-established website elsewhere? For example, is arelevant government department or a small businessfederation willing to ‘host’ your content on a well-usedsite?

Any website will need to provide clear information ineveryday language, as well as any useful documents anddownloads for a range of audiences.

Social media

Before deciding which, if any, social media to engagewith, you need to assess:

Whether social media are available in your country,•how easy they are to access, and how widely they areused

How much useful content do you have to share?•Enough to publish at least one item every week?

Which audiences would use this content? Would they•prefer to receive it this way, or in some other way?

Why is this social media option a good fit for your•approach?

18

PART III

How regularly do you need to be in touch with•audiences?

How will you handle feedback? This is important –•social media channels are designed for interactionwith your audiences, so only use them if you can dealwith feedback.

As well as your own content, you could also alert youraudiences to relevant articles, external resources toshare from and so on. But this all takes time andresources, so avoid committing to anything that can’t bekept fresh and current.

If your resources are limited, realistic options mightinclude one or more of the following:

An RSS feed on your web pages . Users can opt in to•receiving alerts, and in turn this helps you build acontacts list

A LinkedIn Group•

A Facebook page, although some organisations•restrict access to Facebook at work, so this may affectresults

Twitter. This is difficult to sustain without regular•input, and would be most useful for regular briefupdates during a crisis or key time in the negotiatingcycle

If you have video material to share, consider YouTube.•Useful for sharing briefing sessions or footage fromevents, if you are happy for these to go public

Flickr hosts photographic and video material, and is•useful if you have images to share.

If you have photos, video or large files to share but•only with selected people, a free file-sharing servicesuch as Dropbox may be helpful.

You may also want to check what’s being said about•your trade policy or negotiation on Wikipedia or bysearching online to see which websites appear at thetop of your search

Search engine optimisation, the process of improving•your website’s search ratings, is a fast-moving area and

needs specialist help. If this is important to you andyou plan to contract external support, include it inyour terms of reference (ToR).

Please see www.tradeadvocacyfund.com for links to•social media and other online resources.

Your parent department or government may alreadyuse some of these tools, making it easier for you toparticipate. Check with your IT or communicationsspecialists.

E-updates and e-newsletters

A regular formatted email that is clearly from arecognised and reputable source can be an effectivelow-cost tool. E-alerts, for news with a deadline such asan invitation, can also be used. Keep them brief, andinclude contact details and links to your web pages

Try to send them in the name of a senior contact. It’s wiseto establish a secondary mailbox in his or her name forthis purpose to avoid cluttering the main inbox and alsoas a protection against unwelcome feedback. You’llneed to build an accurate e-mailing list and keep it up-to-date. A contacts database is a valuable resource, butbe accurate: contacts will be alienated if their names orpersonal details are incorrect.

Media

Trade is a complex subject. Briefing sessions for selectedjournalists can help to build their ability to file well-informed reports on trade issues. Obviously you have aposition or objective that you want to get across, butbriefings should be offered without the requirement toproduce a story, and with no other strings attached. Ifhandled effectively, such events help to build mediacontacts that you can work with when needed (forexample, to set the record straight if misinformation ispublished elsewhere).

Media engagement can be risky for non-professionals. Ifyour organisation has communications support staff,they are likely to be the people who deal with media. Askfor their help and keep them informed. As a minimumthey will know which media are open to discussion, andwhat are tricky areas to avoid. If you have a press office,discuss issuing news releases with them, and the titlesthey have on their media list. Get support if possible,

19

PART III

and never say anything to a journalist that you would beunhappy to see online or in tomorrow’s paper,regardless of whether you are saying it ‘on’ or ‘off’ therecord.

Media options: consider radio, TV and online as well asnewspapers. In many countries radio plays the mostimportant role in information dissemination for thewider public. For radio and TV you need confidentspokespeople with clear and friendly voices, who arecomfortable speaking in local languages, and don’t ‘talkdown’ to listeners. They may also need to be prepared togo to radio or TV studios at short notice. For print, youcould offer an opinion piece (a short item written by aminister or expert) or suggest ways to develop aninteresting feature. See also ‘blogs’ below. You may wantto research:

Selected pan-regional and relevant international•media, such as business TV channels (for example,Bloomberg), or journals (such as New African or JeuneAfrique)

Global trade sector titles such as those produced by•WTO and Bridges Africa, particularly for policyinfluence work (see below)

Online news sites – these may be owned by•broadcasters or newspapers, or be ‘standalone’ onlinenews sites. Some NGOs also have news andcampaigning sections which are seen as news ‘hubs’ intheir own right.

News agencies (also referred to as ‘newswire’ services•or ‘wires’) such as AP.

Blogs

Blogs are similar to newspaper opinion pieces (seeabove), and you can recycle opinion pieces into blogsand vice versa. Blogs can be a good tool for internationalpolicy influence (see below), particularly if you canpersuade an acknowledged expert to write something,perhaps using your situation as an example. Blogs canalso be used to encourage comment and feedback, butbe prepared: feedback may be hostile, especially onmajor news sites with thousands of users.Internationally, the UK Guardian newspaper’sdevelopment blog, Poverty Matters, is influential andpopular (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-

development/poverty-matters for trade-related blogs,and the type of feedback they receive).

Some organisations don’t allow their staff to blog, andeven if they do, you may need approval for your finaltext, so check before you start.

Other channels:

As your strategy develops you may also want to considera number of other channels, depending on resources:

Events and presentations: these can ‘work harder’ if•you make your information available at pre-existingevents, provide postcards/business cards with yourweb address, and turn speeches/presentations intocopy for opinion pieces or blogs.

Workshops/ Seminars/ Meetings: Look widely for•speaking opportunities, particularly if you have agood speaker in your team or at senior level.

Booklets/ Factsheets: Adapt toolkit factsheets for•specific audiences (for example, specific sectors).Ensure that these are easily updatable.

Roll-up banners: can be produced inexpensively and•used for external events (workshops, conferences) – orin your own offices to support internalcommunications. Limit the text – ideally to a title andwebsite address – so they don’t need updating.

Technical publications such as:•

semi-technical updates on negotiations for–policymakers/private sector readers

short summaries for the interested public–explaining the terms of the your trade deal

sector-specific booklets highlighting what any new–agreement contains and related opportunities orrequirements.

When you have considered all your channel options, youshould be able to draw up a shortlist or brief summary ofthe channels you plan to use.

20

PART III

Reaching international audiences

Most of the channels listed above will also support yourwork of influencing policy in your region and globally.Internationally you will need to work through:

Building personal contacts at international trade•meetings, using key messages consistently (forexample, invitations to a co-hosted fringe meeting,coffee break session or other low-cost activity). Youcan also use such events as opportunities to meetinternational media and get your messages across

News items in specialist media, ideally in advance of•summits etc (eg, a short letter to a leading financialjournal; working with a think tank or researchinstitution with strengths in trade). You can get anidea of which institutional views reflect yours throughtheir e-updates or e-news such as ECDPM’s WeeklyCompass – http://www.ecdpm.org/weeklycompass )

Partnering in order to increase your profile (for•example, with a donor or a CSO at a WEF fringe event)or taking advantage of existing opportunities (forexample, asking for a key point to be included in aministerial speech).

For major international events or meetings it isparticularly important to plan early. There is alwaysintense competition for share of voice or coverage, andit gets tougher the closer you get to the event itself.

7. Budget and resources Any communications strategy and action plan will costmoney.

Costs will vary from country to country depending onlocal conditions, so it is impossible to give generalindications of costs. Also, governments’ willingness toallocate funds will depend on the importance theyattach to their international trade stance and objectives.When you are developing your communicationsstrategy and action plan for submission to ministers, youmust have a very clear appraisal of how much it will costand of the benefits that you aim to achieve. Your ownorganisation may be able to provide you withbenchmark costs if they have run informationcampaigns in the past.

However effective communications work doesn’tnecessarily rely on large budgets. You can save moneyby:

Being realisticand managing expectations of senior•staff and stakeholders (for example, by persuadingthem that large advertising campaigns aren’t the onlyway to get your messages across)

using any in-house knowhow and ‘free’ market•research available to you – not just communicationsstaff, but IT, human resources, and/or front-line staffdealing with your target audiences

using other free channelsavailable to you – for•example, whilst such media may not always be aperfect fit, many governments produce their ownmagazines and newsletters, or pre-pay for newspapereditorial on an annual contract (and are oftenscratching around for ideas).

Your action planwill better supportcritical phases ofactivity ifaccompanied by aplanning calendar

“

”

21

PART III

8. TimelineWhat is your deadline to achieve your overall objective?What are the milestones (events, dates, deadlines)along the way? is it more effective to base your actionplan on specific communications projects with clearstart and end dates?

There are two inter-related aspects to getting yourtiming right when planning communications:

Planning ahead•

Choosing the right moment to communicate.•

Planning ahead

Planning ahead saves you money. Last-minute airfares,printing or delivery costs are almost always moreexpensive. Even if you are lucky enough to have in-house services, if you frequently ask for things to bedone ‘urgently’ you erode goodwill. Minimise timingproblems by:

Using one of the action plan templates in this toolkit•(see pages 26–28), working backwards from anydeadlines linked to major events on which yoursuccess depends. Add a few days here and there toallow for problems and late delivery. Your action planwill better support critical phases of activity ifaccompanied by a planning calendar

Sharing planners and calendars with colleagues•involved, and setting up automatic reminders foryourself

Acknowledging that things always take longer than•you think. If possible, don’t wait till everything is‘perfect’. Get started on something

Factoring in delays for approvals, procurement•procedures, external events (meetings in WTO,UNCTAD), visas and customs clearances forinternational work, planned domestic events (forexample, elections when you may not be allowed toundertake public communications). In particular,allow time for approvals – for example, by a minister, atop official or a committee that meets infrequently.Find out if it’s possible to delegate sign-off so that you

can exploit sudden opportunities (for example, mediaopportunities).

Choosing the right moment

This is particularly important if you are working towardscommunications around a large international event (forexample, a major WTO event or high-level politicalmeeting). Competition for profile-raising can be intense:you may get better results by timing yourcommunications work earlier, post-event, or even at acompletely different time. Domestically, if you aretalking to business and/or sections of the public, avoidclashing with known national or international eventsthat get a lot of media coverage at home – even if theyhave nothing to do with trade.

The other timing question concerns your overallstrategy. If your communications relate to ongoing, orunresolved, trade negotiations, at what point do youstart communicating, particularly with audiences athome?

Some trade teams begin their publicity effort only whena deal is finalised, others from the very early stages ofnegotiation when stakeholders need to be consulted onpolicy. The three main phases to consider are:

Introducing the proposed policy or potential deal –•the ‘who, what, when, where, why and how’ issues andwhy they matter to that audience

We now have a deal or policy – what this means, and•why audiences need to know

What happens next? – policy or agreement•implementation, and where target audiences can getmore information/advice.

Long-term significant change may go through severalphases. Key messages, priority audiences and channelsmay need to be reviewed as each new phase isintroduced.

22

PART III

9. StyleA communications strategy and action plan need tohave a consistent and recognisable style.

You may already have one. If not, it’s important toensure consistency of design and terminology in yourpublications and handouts: for example, the titles youuse for a trade agreement or the terms on your webpages will affect how easily users can search for, andfind, you online.

The first thing to do is to review any material you’veproduced to date, and check that it’s consistent withanything else which your government or organisationhas.

You need to check whether there are guidelines on anational presentation style. If you want to produce apublication, or commission a design or website, andyour strategy is donor-funded you also need to getapproval needed for use of your – or funders’ – logos.

It’s important to check if any of these rules exist in yourorganisation, in order to appear professional andconsistent, reassure your audiences that you are theofficial ‘voice’ of your organisation, and to ensure thatyou are personally protected in areas such as mediahandling and copyright law.

If you are concerned that your organisation ordepartment has a poor reputation, consider what youhave achieved that your audiences value (for example,reducing barriers to trade) and use your key messages toremind audiences of these. If things have gone wrong inthe past, try to demonstrate that they have improved, orthat you are working to put them right.

If you plan to work with funders or other organisationsto get your message out, decide in advance how yourtwo (or more) logos will be shown, and use yourmessages to explain why the partnership is important.

10. Monitoring and evaluation How do you check that your communications strategyis on track? What impact are you having? How often doyou review this?

Look for ways of measuring the impact of your strategyand be prepared to make changes if you are not gettingresults. Use measures based on your objectives. Forexample, if you aimed for engagement with astakeholder group, but only assess general web hits andmedia coverage, you won’t know what progress you’vemade. However, if media coverage reflects positiveviews from that group (for example, small businessowners or a major service sector) or invitations topresent to those groups have increased, then this maybe evidence of impact. Even basic feedback can helpyou to assess whether your strategy is on course.

Getting started

You’ll probably be familiar with using a logicalframework or ‘logframe’ to track progress for other typesof project and you can use the same process forcommunications. If donors are funding yourcommunications work, they may require you to trackimpact using a tool like this. Try to select measures thathelp you assess what’s essential for you, as well asfulfilling funders’ conditions.

Your logframe may be updated as performanceindicators develop, especially if yours is a long-termproject, but aim for some consistency.

What measures should I use?

Measures that offer a ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparison,•such as a communications log to track results, notingpanel appearances, third party coverage, etc.However, it’s important that colleagues andsupporters keep you informed of such activities forthe log to be effective

Low-cost measures monitored for changes (for•example, number of requests to attend stakeholderevents, mailing list statistics, number of invitations foryou to present, meeting reports for key events, logs ofcontacts or enquiries, etc)

Media audits: through conversations, get target•

23

PART III

journalists’ opinions and awareness levels on yourissue. Repeat in six months or a year to see ifopinion/awareness has changed and by how much.Best done by an independent evaluator

Customer questionnaires and feedback forms, online•or at events; informal, unattributed feedback (usefulfor internal communications). Encourage negative aswell as positive comment in order to learn. You can useSurvey Monkey or similar free tools to create quickonline surveys, if online activity works for your targetaudiences

Web and social networking analytics and feedback•(for example, collating information from socialnetworking sites using number of responses andfeedback received to assess impact). For websites, youcan use Google Analytics or similar systems to do thisat low cost (although you may need to trackdocument downloads separately)

Media coverage: measure success by the quality and•relevance of coverage obtained. You can use GoogleAlerts or similar systems to do this at low cost

Mentions in speeches or online by members of your•REC or by other country representatives who supportyour position, etc.

What measures shouldn’t I use?

Nothing too complex: use a system that is simple and•works for you

Avoid measures which track audiences that are not•priorities for you

Don’t mistake quantity for relevance: for example,•using column inches to measure media impact isn’thelpful. Avoid systems that convert media coverageinto how much it would have cost you to purchase thesame space. A small item in a relevant journal may beworth much more than large features in localnewspapers that don’t reach your targets.

See some of the ‘References’ (page 32) for more M&E•tools and ideas.

You may also need to work within other governance andaccountability systems such as committees,performance reviews, reviews and audits by funders, aswell as any reviews you undertake (for example,contractor performance, see Part Four). Consider how toalign these with your M&E logframe where possible.

Be preparedto makechanges ifyou are notgettingresults

“

”

24

PART IV

if you can afford it, you may decide to buy inprofessional communications support to implementyour strategy, or specialist services (for example, todevelop and produce publications or set up yourwebsite.

However, a consultant who wants to get results for youwill need regular discussions with you and yourcolleagues, and to be kept up to date aboutdevelopments. You need to be clear about who ownsthe relationship (internal review, approvals etc), and youwill still need to invest time in deciding yourrequirements and in managing the contract. Argumentsfor and against using contractors include:

Structuring the agreement:

Will you pay contractors a retainer (usually a monthly•fee), by the day, or by project? If you are considering aretainer, or if end dates for your project are not known,add a date for contract review to add structure to yourcontractual agreement. If your strategy and actionplan are donor-funded you will need to reach prioragreement with the donor(s)

How will you measure performance (see Part Three,•section 10)? You need realistic deliverables: acontractor can’t, for example, be measured againstwhether or not you achieve a trade deal, since thereare too many other variables involved.

PART IV Contracting out your communications

BOX 8

For AgAinsT

You can benefit from a contractor’s skills and expertise,and/or avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’

If you need to use several contractors, you may risk alot of extra management, duplication of effort, orthings missed

Contractors should have ready-made systems in placethat will save you time (for example, systems to planand develop publications)

Contractors can’t just take care of themselves – youneed to invest time and effort in them to get the bestresults

Contractors should have worked on similar projectsbefore, and have contacts and/or knowledge toaccelerate your progress. You need to be clear andrealistic about what you want contractors to do andhow you will measure their performance

More expensive than doing it yourself

Contractors may come up with ideas or approachesthat you never would have considered.

It may be difficult to convince senior colleagues toconsider new ideas or to adapt to different ways ofworking

Can be good value, especially if you can pay a day ratefor short periods of specialist activity such asestablishing a website

25

PART IV

What types of contractor should I use?

One contractor or several?•

A contractor just for one specialist area (for example, a•writer, a designer, a website developer) or do youneed to outsource everything?

Do you have a free choice of supplier or are you tied to•approved contractors or by other constraints?

What qualifications, skills and experience do I needto buy in?

If you don’t know enough about communications•work to specify what you want, search online forcommunications or public relations jobs, donor sitesfor similar contracts, or ask advice from an HR orcommunications professional

Don’t ask for high qualifications just because they look•good. If you don’t really need people with masters’degrees, don’t ask for them

Keep within any requirements of national law,•including employment law.

What does a contractor need from me?

The simple answer is, as much as you can tell them!Action plan one (see page 27) is a good starting pointwhen drafting terms of reference.

Contractors need to know deadlines and start dates. Inorder to apply, they will also need to know:

Do you want preliminary expressions of interest or a•full application?

Do you want applicants to provide a short paper•outlining their approach at this stage? Or only ifshortlisted?

Give deadline and bid delivery details. Outline the•timetable and decision-making steps that will follow(decision-making criteria, scoring systems, paper-based or interview, etc).

What do you need to plan for?

Do you need new funding? Get this confirmed before•you advertise for bids from contractors

What procurement rules and requirements does your•organisation have?

Who will review the bids?•

Is this a paper exercise, or will you interview•applicants?

Who in the organisation has enough expertise to•assess the technical aspects of the bids? If you don’thave anyone in-house, can you involve an externalindependent specialist who will help you to assess thebids? A specialist must have no affiliations to any ofthe bidders and should also sign a confidentialityagreement

If you ask for ideas, be clear about who owns the ideas•at the end of the application process, especially goodideas from unsuccessful bidders.

How do I decide which contractor to use?

Get a second opinion: if you have communications•staff, ask them. Don’t ignore the views ofcommunications staff just because they may be junior.They are likely to have a pretty shrewd idea of wherebids are sound and where there may be gaps

When hiring specialists such as web or design staff,•involve your in-house equivalents if any – if thecontractor doesn’t perform, your colleagues may haveto pick up the pieces

Try to avoid deciding by committee. Three or four•people will be fine. A large formal group may go forthe lowest risk or lowest cost option – which may be afalse economy

Don’t let yourself be overwhelmed by a•communications company with prestigious clients,expensive sales material or upmarket premises.Decide who is right for you based on your needs.

26

TEMPLATES

Model outline specifications for communication strategy, action plan, and implementation contractor: i Communications strategy template ii Communications action planiii Terms of reference for communications contractor(s)These templates are available for download on www.tradeadvocacyfund.com

sTAgE ouTPuTs

review– How have we communicated in the past? How effective was it?What could we have done better?

SWOT analysis

objective– What do we want our communications to achieve? Whatwould success look like? (Objectives must be aligned withorganisational objectives.)

Set of objectives/draft aims

Audiences– Who are our key audiences? How should we prioritise theneeds of different audiences? What advocates and supporters can weidentify?

Audience or stakeholder audit

Initial ‘contacts book’ of advocates

internal communications– Who are our key internal audiences? Howshould we prioritise their needs? What’s our organisational culture?Whose approval or involvement do we need to make this happen? Whatresources do we have?

Internal audience audit and a shortlist of channels and tools

Messages– What do we want to say? Do we use the same messages fordifferent audiences, or multiple messages? How do we ensureconsistency?

Draft key message set and selectkey facts

Channels and tools– Which channels or communication tools are bestsuited to getting our message across to our audiences?

List of suitable channels and tools,with a brief note about how eachwill be used

Budget and resources– What resources do we need to deliver ourstrategy? Can our strategy be delivered without incurring significantcosts? What skills and ‘kit’ do we already have, and what do we need?

Brief budget spreadsheet, and noteof resources. Summary of researchinto external funding sources ifrequired

Timeline– What are our deadlines? What are the milestones (events,dates, deadlines)? Is it more effective to base our action plan on specificprojects with clear start and end dates?

Timeline or calendar with key stagesmapped out. You may prefer toincorporate this into your actionplan (see p 27)

Monitoring and evaluation– How do we check that ourcommunications strategy is on track? What impact are we having? Howoften do we review this?

Draft M&E plan

Depending on the outcome you may need to undertake further research to develop your plan; start involving morecolleagues; or you may decide to move on to develop your Communications action plan (Templates, p27) and Terms(Templates, p 29)

i. CoMMuniCATions sTrATEgy TEMPlATE Use this worksheet to help you develop a framework strategy.

6. Communication Activities

[Enter key activities in date order in the grid. If you have listed external meetings above, this grid is the place tonote all the internal deadlines you need to hit for your engagement to be successful: publication dates, applicationor entry deadlines, shipping or ticket deadlines, dates to receive website or other copy. Every activity must beassigned and named to a individual who leads on the item and will ensure it is done. Ensure that everyone namedon the plan knows their role and any deadlines involved.]

27

TEMPLATES

ii. CoMMuniCATions ACTion PlAn TEMPlATEs Use this worksheet to help you develop a framework strategy.

Two templates are provided here.

The first action plan template is more suitable for informal organisational structures and/or where led by acommunications team is involved. it’s a useful tool for one-off planning, for example leading up to an event.

Communications subject: [Enter title]

Target dates: [Enter start and end dates of communications activity]

1. Background

[Enter one or two lines about the project context][Enter trade objectives (brief version)][List main outputs and activities so far – results, media coverage, meetings, publications]

2. Audiences [List main target audience groups, noting internal/external]

3. Communications objectives for this activity (external and internal) [List main communications objectives]

4. key messages for this activity

[List main messages that are relevant to this project or phase. It may only be one or two of your key message set]

5. key future events

[Enter important events in date order in the grid: these may be events for which you have planned (for example, aWTO fringe event); publication dates; external events directly related to trade (for example, WTO ‘Geneva Week’, aWTO ministerial meeting); or external events that may be relevant or present an opportunity (for example, UnitedNations Framework Convention on Climate Change meetings). ][Note any cut-off dates (for example, deadlines for delegates or papers)]

Event or activity Date Date

EXAMPLEDate Channel(s) Audience(s) Messages Owner

5 November Staff briefing – confirmroom and send reminder

Staff from ministries oftrade and finance.

Paul 17November

Staff briefingevent

Staff from ministries oftrade and finance.

Daniel 1 December

Shippingdeadline for

Brussels briefing packs Event for MEPs andmedia.

Brief on the progressand issues re EPA

Jane, Fred indespatch

28

TEMPLATES

7. spokespeople [Enter names of spokespeople and note any briefing needed in the grid above]

8. outcome achievement measure

[Enter the measures you are using to track impact – see Part Three, section 10 for more on evaluation]Expected outcomes/indicators:1. [List key outcomes] 2. [List key outcomes]

9. Funding [Enter any budget amounts secured for this activity and note any shortfall or funds awaited]

The second action plan template is more suitable for larger and/or more formal organisational structures whereformal allocation of responsibility and signoff of stages is necessary. it can also be used for tracking progress acrossoverall implementation of your communications strategy. A sample sheet is shown below.

EXAMPLE

Activity Stages Personresponsible

Timing Deliverables Notes

Coordinateimplementationof Action Plan

Convene in-housecommunicationsworking group

Terms ofreference forgroup andagreed scheduleof meetings

Membership:likely to includeTrade,Communication,ExternalRelations

Procurement ofcommunicationscontractor

... and continueto complete

Approval forcurrent draft ToR

By15th

Terms ofreference (ToR)and schedule forshortlist andselection

Check withprocurementand legal

Procurementnotice

By 1stnextmonth

Advert andapprovedinformation pack

29

TEMPLATES

iii. TErMs oF rEFErEnCE TEMPlATE For CoMMuniCATions ConTrACTor(s)

This template is designed to help you map out the terms of reference for potential contractors.You may also find it useful if you need to prepare an application for third-party funding for communications support. Itis similar to the first action plan template in the previous section (see page 27). This is intentional: it enables you to re-use similar information, saving time and effort.

There are crucial differences, of course, in scope, procurement rules and other areas: Part Four (see page 24) addressesthese and other questions you may need to consider.

Before beginning, speak with your procurement department, if you have one; check any procurement rules applyingto your department; and/or – if you are receiving external funding – check procurement rules stipulated by your donor.

Communications subject: [Enter title]

Target dates:

[Enter start and end dates of communications activity]If you are considering a retainer arrangement, or end dates are not known, add a date for review of contract here.

1. Background

[Enter one or two lines about the project context][Enter trade objectives (brief version)][List main outputs and activities so far – results, media coverage, meetings, publications]

2. Audiences [List main target audience groups, noting internal/external]

3. Communications objectives for this activity (external and internal) [List main communications objectives]

4. scope of work

[Set out whether you are offering one ‘lot’ or several, focusing on a specific trade negotiation or your wholeportfolio, and any rules about bidding for more than one lot. Then outline the scope of each lot. See sample text.]

Remember to include any technical information that applicants may need (for example, organisationalstandards/preferred software for design or website work; office requirements, such as secure high-speed reliableinternet connections, VOIP, etc). If there is a lot to say on this, you may want to set it out in a separate ‘methodology’section.

Summarise any important events and activities that contractors will work on. You do not need to include yourentire activity grid, but briefly note:

major events in the pipeline (for example, a WTO fringe event)•

publications that you are planning, or want the contractor to produce for you•

critical dates and deadlines•

official and local languages that the contractor(s) must be able to handle.•

30

TEMPLATES

5. deliverables and timeframe

Set out deliverables required for each contract, by when, and anything areas for discussion (see sample below).Include any performance review dates.

Summarise any decisions made about your communications approach, and the tools and channels you wish touse. You should indicate where these decisions are fixed and where they are open to discussion orrecommendations from the contractor(s). Start a new section for each ‘lot’, if you are offering more than onecontract.

Ensure your deliverables relate to the skills, knowledge and experience section.

deliverables: sample text

Lot 1 – deliverables:

EXAMPLE

EXAMPLE

Scope of work: sample text

The scope of this work falls into four main areas, or‘lots’. Bidders may apply for one or more lots.

External communications and policy influencing•support in [country/region/ internationally], for[trade policy formation or trade negotiations]

Online services (technical support) •

Design and production of trade marketing•materials for [trade policy formation or tradenegotiations]

Monitoring and evaluation of communications•activity for [trade policy formation or tradenegotiations]

Scope of each lot:

External communications:

The consultant should undertake implementationof the draft action plan based on [trade policyformation or trade negotiations] communicationsstrategy. Scope is likely to include:

Conducting an audience segmentation and•stakeholder analysis exercise (external)

Developing key messages •

Training of external spokespeople•

[complete list]

By month 3: By month 6:

Inception report

Audience segmentation and stakeholder analysisexercise (external)

External communications planning schedule eventscalendar (regularly updated)

Key message set with proof points (regularly updated)

Basic trade information pack

Set of case studies (A bank of 6–10 studies to be usedin media and online)

Media engagement support programme

[complete list]

31

TEMPLATES

6. Team composition, qualifications and experience

[Set out any general requirements regarding teams, office locations/work in-country, and whether individuals aswell as organisations may apply. Then set out specific qualifications, skills and experience required. See Part Fourfor more on this.]

Ensure requirements stated here don’t break employment law relating to you or your funder. For example, in somecountries you may not ask for ‘x years of experience’ because of age discrimination law. However you couldlegitimately ask, for example, for ‘experience leading two substantial trade communications campaigns’ or asimilar benchmark, telling you what you need to know.

7. Funding and schedule of payment

[Enter the basis on which you propose to pay, such as x% of contract payment upon successful completion ofinception phase, x% after successful completion of 6-month deliverables etc. Include the contract term andwhether it may be extended on successful completion of first year, etc.]

If you wish to indicate likely contract value, upper limits to finance or to day rates, or other constraints, do so here.For example:

Economy class travelling expenses and subsistence expenses for days spent in national capitals or in other centres,as agreed in advance

Actual costs of all agreed activities and outputs against receipts

If the contract is supported by external funders you may wish to mention it here.

8. Performance review and evaluation

[Explain when and how contractor performance will be reviewed. If you have decided how you will measureperformance (see pages 22–23), you could include more information here. If you are inviting applications for anevaluation specialist, you could refer readers to the ToR for that contractor here.]

9. Contract management

[Enter names or positions, and locations, of staff who will manage the contract(s). Include any other relevantgovernance arrangements]

10. invitation to tender and deadlines

[Set out the information that needs to be included in applications (for example, cvs, financial proposal, clientreferences and/or examples of previous work, page/word limits for the application etc), and the deadline forsubmission. Be clear about where and how the application should be delivered. See Part Four for what else toinclude]

Add any annexes relevant to procurement: these may include standard terms and conditions relating to contracts,travel and expenses, conflict of interest, confidentiality and intellectual property rules, and any stipulationsrelating to security if you are based in a conflict zone or fragile state.

Outline the timetable and decision-making steps that will follow (decision-making criteria, scoring systems,paper-based or interview, etc).

32

Although a number of resources below refer to communications in the context of research, they are all useful foranyone starting to plan a communications strategy for complex topics. All of these resources are free to download.

Please see www.tradeadvocacyfund.com for hyperlinks.

Making communication count: a strategic communications framework, Liz Carlile, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), June 2011, see: www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=17096IIED

Helping researchers become policy entrepreneurs, John Young and Enrique Mendizabal, ODI Briefing Paper, September 2009,http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/1127-become-policy-entrepreneur-roma

How to write Killer Facts and Graphics – what are your best examples?, Duncan Green, Oxfam, June 2012

Development online: making the most of social media, Liz Carlile, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), June 2011, see: www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=17094IIED

The Power of Film: Turning your talking head video into a story, Caroline Cassidy, blog, November 2012, http://onthinktanks.org/2012/11/05/the-power-of-film-turning-your-talking-head-video-into-a-story/

Strategies to Enhance Research Impact, (slideshare) John Young, ODI, London, 2008 http://www.slideshare.net/ODI_Webmaster/strategies-to-enhance-research-impact-six-lessons-presentation

A pragmatic guide to monitoring and evaluating research communications using digital tools, Nick Scott, On Think Tanks, January 2012, see: http://onthinktanks.org/2012/01/06/monitoring-evaluating-research-communications-digital-tools/#MandETools

Making a difference: M&E of policy research,Ingie Hovland, Working Paper 281, ODI, London, June 2007,see: http://www.odi.org.uk/rapid/Publications/RAPID_WP_281.html

The Plain English Campaignprovides free guides to writing clearly for the public. You can download these (PDFs), as well as glossaries that explainlegal and financial terms, and guides to specialist writing, at:http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/free-guides.html

REFERENCES

TAF is managed on behalf of DFID by a dedicatedFund Manager: Crown Agents and Saana Consulting

TRADE ADVOCACY FUND

www.tradeadvocacyfund.cominfo@tradeadvocacyfund.com

Advisory ToolkiT 1 – jAnuAry 2014

SAANA CONSULT ING

TAF assistance is tailored to matchthe specific demands of theapplicant in relation to actual orplanned negotiations. It respondsto real, practical needs.

“”