Beacon

A design and build competition provides an excellent showcasing opportunity for all partners.  The communication plan for the project has to help secure partners, competition applicants (national and/or international), and presumably the public’s imagination.

Some of the main issues to consider are:

• Who is allowed to speak to the public about the competition?
• Use of partners’ logos/ material etc.
• Communicating the core messages of the competition.
• Developing and agreeing marketing concept, brand, themes and approach.
• Identifying key messages and channels of communication.
• Creating promotional material for the competition.
• Developing a website, information portal and online application forms.
• Using ministers/celebrities to increase coverage.
• Using the competition to highlight aspirations and new directions in policy/planning (e.g. aspirations for sustainable medium density housing in the inner city).
• Planning events and event management - including the public launch of the competition, announcing winners, celebrations. All have requirements such as choosing a date, venue, ordering catering, hiring or arm twisting an MC, developing an invitation list, organising speakers, preparing media releases.
• Advising industry and potential participants well ahead of time (usually through trade and design professional media).

Also consider:

• Opportunities for parallel activity - speaker sessions on main topics or involving judges, stakeholders etc.
• Public exhibition of entries and highlighting the winning designs or those with special mention

Roles to be played

• Marketing and communication plan drafted, or RFP scoped for potential contractors to reply to
• Assessing and securing formal marketing communications manager (could be one partner’s in-house team, or external contracted)