By : Luthfy Rijalul Fikri
1.
PR Audiences:
Policy/Political
Local-State-Federal
Landowner/Lease Grantor
General Public (including non-rural population)
Tax Payer
Utility Rate Payer
Business Owner
Media
Academics
Students
2.
PR Strategy:
Create a national professional Public Relations (PR)campaign to effectively communicate with the selected audiences using targeted
messages. Have a consistent, positive, national message. Be FOR something (e.g.
Science), not AGAINST something (e.g. wind energy). Be proactive vs reactive.
The minimum national PR campaign goal is to
constructively influence national and state wind energy policies. A broader
possible goal is to constructively influence national and state energy and
environmental policies. Resolve: are our
interests just wind energy, or broader?
The goal will be realized by coordination of a focused
message along many channels and with multiple voices. The intent is to target
the identified audiences with consistent messaging to create positive
change. Public opinion must begin to change among citizens at
large. Create a grass-roots ground swell from which the clamor for change
will reach the elected officials and policy-makers.
The message will be determined from a variety of
analysis techniques including inputs from local groups and others who have an
interest in spreading the message. The message will be tested for
resonance with the audiences, and the dynamic of the audience shall be
periodically assessed.<!--more--!>
In addition to have the appropriate message, it needs
to be communicated optimally. We need to study and apply good communication
skills.
Decide whether or not a national organization is
advisable as well (Part 2).
3. Goals of the PR
Campaign
A) Cause the targeted audience to change its opinion and
action based on the messages.
B) Provide credible counter message to the (wind)
industry.
C) Disrupt industry message with countermeasures.
D) Cause subversion in message of industry so that
it effectively becomes so bad no one wants to admit in public they are for it
(much like wind has done to coal, by turning green to black and clean to
dirty).
Ultimate Goal: Change policy
direction based on the message.
Some PR Tactics:
Most of this could be done by volunteers without
having a formal national organization. Discuss how this would work and who
would have what responsibilities.
Consider joining forces w some already established
organization where there is substantial commonality and commitment (e.g. ATI,
Heartland, IER, CEI, Marshall, Brookings, Cato, Manhattan, AfP, FW, CFACT,
ALEC, NA-PAW, etc.).
Provide training to local leaders regarding PR.
Provide local groups support materials, like
PowerPoint templates to put on local education seminars, document templates for
them to file with their state utility commission, etc.
Have a high-quality professional brochure available as
a handout, that summarizes the situation with wind energy (e.g. Rasmussen).
Encourage critical thinking from members and the
public.
Develop a list of experts for testimony to government
agencies, etc.
Identify key topics (e.g. health) and get volunteers
to act as a clearing house for information and posting timely information for
activists on a website.
Assign key people to be media interfaces (those who
are knowledgeable, can think on their feet, camera friendly, etc.)
Coordinate messages to address local, state and
federal levels of lawmakers
Create some catch phrases of wind energy — e.g. puff
power, breeze energy.
Setup a volunteer lobbying effort to reach key
lawmakers
Identify and connect with like-minded groups such as
tax, tea party, true environmentalists, business organizations, property rights
advocates, etc.
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION PROPOSAL
Some Considerations Regarding a National Organization:
[Note: This is
optional. All of the above PR would be done as well, but having a funded
national organization would allow for a more comprehensive PR effort.]
Decide on the purpose of a national organization, and
how it would interface with local groups. (E.g. local websites would primarily
have info pertaining to the local issues. Education re wind energy would be
handled nationally.)
Decide on the structure of a national organization,
and where the funds would come from to support it.
Create a “think-tank” subgroup to produce and
disseminate white paper reports and scientific quotes and papers that back-up
the message.
Timely gathering of information as it appears in media
outlets on this subject
Media Outreach & Response (communications)
Committee will create and coordinate media contact campaigns. Use
PR Newswire as the wind industry does currently.
Create advertising campaign for radio, TV, and
alternative media.
Coordinate with signage, tee-shirts, hats, bumper
stickers etc
Employ a well-known spokesman with star credibility.
(Find one to volunteer?)
Develop corporate partnerships where the message goes
onto bags, signs, tents and other outlets.
Start a “get people talking” campaign. Use controversy
to spark ideas.
Youth Outreach will create program for public school
coordination as well as college coordination. This will include community
activity and participation with sponsorships for science fairs, school activity
etc. with preset parameters that cause students to steer away from wind because
they discover it doesn’t meet the criteria we set up (poster contest, essays
etc).
Setup a dummy business that will go into communities
considering wind development, proposing to build 400 foot billboards.Social
Media Outreach director/create coordination for message on web and in
Twitter-type outreach, YouTube, etc.
Create counter-intelligence branch (responsible for
communicating current industry tactics and strategies as feedback to this
organization) A team
investigates links to any organization supporting wind in order to expose that
support. Provide
alternative solutions for public consumption as well as re-branding of the
current wind industry?
Write expose book on the industry, showing government
waste, harm to communities and other negative impacts on people and the
environment.
Meme (self-replicating messages) Response Coordinator
(This will help slow the meme effect of the industry,
for instance when a company places a seal showing wind power was used to
produce the product, we automatically assign a tax wasting symbol to the
product and recommend a boycott on the website. When a company uses wind
power as marketing tool, or illustration such as a toy manufacturer showing
turbines on the box, we automatically contact them to tell them we will list
them on the web as actively participating in disinformation by favorably
showing wind turbines)
Legal Department for contract review and guidance on
communication efforts, and also taking developers (etc.) to court on various
issues to cause media exposure. Maintain a comprehensive collection of court
cases on this subject. Also to provide legal voice for those who have none in
this issue. Develop legal strategies that can be copied in other
areas. Take zoning boards to court to rezone as industrial land to create
chilling effect on signing contracts. Also sue for property value loss to
small land holders, and use all legal cases to create media poster child
effect. Sue states regarding RPS. Sue state utility commission who don’t do
their job. Etc.
National Organization: Details and Narrative
The minimum national PR campaign goal is to
constructively influence national and state wind energy policies. A broader
possible goal is to constructively influence national and state energy and
environmental policies.
The goal will be realized by coordination of a focused
message along many channels and with multiple voices. The intent is to target
three audiences with consistent messaging to create the change. Public
opinion must begin to change in what should appear as a “groundswell” among
grass roots. The message will be determined from a variety of
analysis techniques including interviews with local groups and others who have
an interest in spreading the message. Those who hold opposing views must
also be assessed. The analysis will include scientific polls as well as
focus groups to be used on a continuing basis from time to time to direct and
focus the campaign on messages that are useful to the end goal. As
perceptions change over time, a barometer must be used to determine those
changes and make dynamic adjustments in the message and campaign.
Proposed Structure of a National Organization
A paid, full time director will report to a board on
which the director has a voting seat. The director shall have one paid
executive assistant. The organization shall rely on a network of
volunteer state committee chairpeople who are to coordinate efforts to disseminate
the message in the state. The chairperson shall make contacts and
maintain them with various adhoc groups throughout the state that would benefit
from the coordinated message.
The director shall make use of information gathering
technology to stay abreast of developments in the media and industry and then
coordinate appropriate messages accordingly. This technology shall
include a subscription to Nexis. The director
shall also develop and maintain contacts and coordinate their actions in
regards to the message. The
organization shall maintain 501c3 and PAC status and shall coordinate lobby
efforts at the congressional and state levels.
The director will make use of scientific research
which is designed to gauge the response to the message and allow for the
adjustment of the message from time to time. The same research is also to
determine the weaknesses in opposition messages for the purpose of exploiting
them to the end goal of the campaign.
National Organization: Details and Narrative
The purpose of a national organization would be to do
a better, quicker job at constructively influencing national and state wind
energy policies. A broader possible goal might be to constructively influence
national and state energy and environmental policies.
The goal will be realized by coordination of a focused
message along many channels and with multiple voices. The intent is to target
three audiences with consistent messaging to create the change. Public
opinion must begin to change in what should appear as a “groundswell” among
grass roots. The message will be determined from a variety of
analysis techniques including interviews with local groups and others who have
an interest in spreading the message. Those who hold opposing views must
also be assessed. The analysis will include scientific polls as well as
focus groups to be used on a continuing basis from time to time to direct and
focus the campaign on messages that are useful to the end goal. As
perceptions change over time, a barometer must be used to determine those
changes and make dynamic adjustments in the message and campaign.
The amount of time and energy the campaign will
consume will necessarily require a minimum of two paid positions with
consideration for the addition of other paid positions as the campaign grows
and is able to garner more funding. A director will be appointed by a
board, on which the director shall make material contributions to the direction
the board takes in its approach. The director should have at least one
administrative assistant paid to help with work loads. The work load of
the director will likely exceed 60 hours per week and more if travel is
included. A travel budget should also be planned to allow the director to
meet with key persons in the various states where the campaign will become
active.
The director position assumes that volunteers
are ready and willing to begin serving in various committee positions as soon
as possible. The beginning committees can be constituted by a board vote
and should include the following for immediate activation:
I.
Media
II.
Science
III.
Regional State
Coordinators
IV.
Networking
V.
Political /
Lobby
VI.
Group Policy
The group policy committee will decide the key
messages and focus and will use data from analysis and research to make its
decisions. The decisions from this committee will be used to guide the
efforts of the organization in communicating with the prospective
audiences. This committee is responsible for analyzing and responding to
the dynamics of the audiences over time, and is key to successfully
implementing the strategy by identifying the correct arguments and tone for
resonance among the audiences.
The media committee is responsible for
implementing the message in a variety of media resources including traditional
media, new media, social media and networking. This committee will also
be responsible for using analysis to determine the most appropriate packaging
of the message for the various outlets. It should consider what channels
and voices to use in each instance. This committee will have the
responsibility of message integrity, that is, the continuity of message.
The committee will need resources for message positioning as well as utilizing
free message placement techniques.
The science committee will be responsible for
assembling a directorate of scientists with the proper credentials to be
accepted by main stream media. Those credentials are also important in
making the scientific material harder to target and more difficult to tear down
by the opposition. This committee will coordinate with the directorate to
develop a highly respectable collection of scientific white papers and reports
that are consistent in their approach to supporting the messages chosen as most
likely to succeed. This committee will provide well respected scientists
for media and political symposiums to be conducted to further establish the
messages. They will coordinate their efforts with other committees whose
duties will include dissemination of the science.
The state and regional coordinators will be
volunteers appointed to regional positions to remain in contact with the state
leaders in their area. They will ascertain the needs of the state and
also local campaigns and be responsible for regularly reporting those needs to
the organization so they can be addressed. They will also be responsible
for coordinating the flow of information in two directions between the
organization and the state. They should hold a monthly meeting where
round –robin information sharing assures the flow of information up into the
organization. The coordinators will also individually be responsible for
reaching out weekly to their state contacts to maintain a current picture of
the situation on the ground, and should communicate any urgent state needs
directly up to the director who should then coordinate the appropriate
response.
The networking committee will be responsible for
coordinating the response of networked groups with like-mind on our message.
These will include the tea party, anti-tax leagues and utility rate groups as
well as government watch-dog, anti-waste groups. This committee will help
spread our message to the network groups and then gather feed-back as to their
interests and needs for further information from the organization.
Political and lobby committee is the
coordinating arm for the message going to elected officials and contact with
them in the capacity of lobby efforts. This group ideally will be able to
present a ground swell of public opinion in addition to facts that support the
message. The lobby efforts will include targeted opposition to current
bills that continue the policy this organization opposes. A
coordination with the science committee is important to provide facts for
lawmakers in a format they can understand easily.
Funding for a National Organization
The organization will need
funding and a recommendation of $750,000 for seed and startup is probably a
realistic number. Printed materials, mailing, and the creation of a media
packet, plus phone and computer links and information services. Travel
will be necessary as well. The director should receive a salary of not
less than $80,000 per year with an assistant receiving $35,000 per year.
The director should have experience in PR and media with the appropriate
understanding of marketing techniques. High level of creativity in
developing media strategies, with emphasis on writing and communications.
This person must think outside the box and be willing to use the latest understanding
of PR to counteract the opposing message and strategy across a broad range of
audiences.
This is a recommendation to hire a professional
fundraiser responsible for coordinating donations to both the 501c3 and
Pac. The fundraising efforts should be separated from the duties of the
director so as not to interfere with the day to day activities needed to keep
the campaign moving forward.
Example Scenario (for a National Organization)
In this example, the group policy committee has
identified that a particular bill providing funding for the opposition has been
advanced to committee for a hearing. Policy committee has asked for a
coordinated effort to stop the progress of the funding measure.
First, the lobby committee uses their contacts to
begin a campaign from the inside against the bill with phone calls and private
meetings. They meet with several staffers who suggest that the bill is
being supported because it has been moved as green legislation and several
committee members are afraid to oppose it on that basis. The lobby
committee reports this to media and science for further action.
The media committee decides to use a full page
advertisement in the Washington Post as a method of communicating the ‘not so
green truth’ to congress, and at the same time coordinates a special interview
and story from a scientific point of view that illustrates the dirty side of
the industry. At this same time, the science committee holds a press
conference to announce that the industry is using dishonesty and “greenwashing”
as a cover for what amounts to corporate welfare.
The message is also repeated in Wash Times, WSJ,
Fox and other sources.
State regional coordinators are tapped at this
time to provide a letter writing campaign from the grass roots asking the key
legislators to back away from the funding measure. This campaign is also
echoed in various directorate groups coordinated from the organization
including tea party, anti-tax leagues, etc.
The coordinated
effort stretches across multi-channels and multi-voices, and appears to come
from as many as a dozen separate sources, but the message is the same and stays
on point. The created barrage of voices provides enough cover that the
elected officials have a way to vote no because they can clearly see they have
support for our position.
CONCLUSION
A more consistent professional PR campaign is an
absolute imperative. With well over a hundred US local groups fighting the same
issue, it is clearly advisable that these people be on the same page. What
sense does it make for each of these groups to be reinventing the wheel, and
duplicating efforts?
There are several options as to how this can be
implemented, ranging from the informal to the very structured.
The low cost alternative is to continue to rely on
volunteers, and not to have a national organization. That can work, to a
degree, but there still is a critical need for the numerous local groups across
the country to work more closely together. Exactly
how that can be best done is what needs to be resolved.
The more high-end approach would insure the widest
distribution of the best message — but will require considerable time effort
and funding. A national organization can not be accomplished without full-time
people working to coordinate local efforts. Are we prepared to commit to that option at this point?
Establishing a national organization (if that is
the chosen route) should be viewed as a long term project. A three year
plan should be developed that can offer some time table for expected
results. Due to the size of this undertaking, this plan should include a
roll-out period where a test of the organization can be made in a single state
or region of states first, before going to a national format.
Wallahu a'lam....
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