Monday, February 13, 2012

Writing an Effective Strategic Communications Plan: The Grammy Awards

It's no secret that every campaign requires a good, effective, and all-encompassing strategic plan. For instructional purposes, we'll look to last night's Grammy Awards as an example. In "7 Strategic Communication Lessons by Way of the Super Bowl", Larry Parnell outlines what elements should be included in every communications plan:

  • Situation Analysis: What are you pulling off? You are in charge of a live, nationally syndicated awards show that has been on the air for 54 years. You are also competing against another awards show, the BAFTA Awards, on the same day. Evaluate your competition and research the background of previous Grammy Awards to see where you stand and what you can improve upon.
  • Goals and Objectives: What do you want to accomplish? What objectives do you need to hit in order to execute a successful show? Yes, you want to increase viewership, but how will you do that? Better commercials, more celebrities, a better host, etc.
  • Key Message(s): What message are you trying to get across to your audience? You want to show the public that the Grammy Awards is a respectable, entertaining, and diverse awards show that showcases the talent of musicians in various genres.
  • Tactics: How will you pull all of this off? Increased social media engagement, more funding from investors, what performers will you choose to most engage your audience, etc.
  • Measurement: During the event, how will you know that all is going according to plan? Or now that the event is over, how will you know if you did better, worse? Track statistics like viewers, live tweets, Facebook tags, online polls, anything that proves as solid evidence that you can use to directly compare to past shows.
  • Contingency Plans: Prepare yourself for the worst. What if one of the performer's decides to ditch the Grammy's? Have a Plan B and make sure that your staff is aware of it and ready to mobilize.

How do you think the Grammy's accomplish their goals? Do you have any points to add? Let us know!

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