All posts by adcreators

Primary Comms Group integrates three agencies with a refreshed brand

April 1, 2022Uncategorizedadcreators

Chris Hall, Chief Executive Primary Comms Group, said, “Today creative agency, Circus Group rebrands as Primary Create, alongside long-term sister businesses Primary Communication and Primary Engage, and together we are Primary Comms Group.”

Members of Primary Comms Group have enjoyed significant growth, accelerated by providing top-level integrated services to clients across government, business, and community sectors, all delivered via a single contract model with one-touch account leadership.

Primary Comms Group has tripled in size and quadrupled in service over the past five years and now provides clients with one-touch integration across PR, government relations, design, content development, digital marketing, and stakeholder engagement.

“At Primary Comms Group, our team makes great things happen for our clients across government, non-profit, consumer and corporate sectors. Primary’s seven business partners lead our diverse workforce with incredible loyalty and commitment,” added Mr Hall.

“Our story is told through the success of client programs, which are still growing, evolving, and being delivered by the Primary team, more than 30 years on. In 2021, we took home five PRIA Golden Target Awards, which is a testament to our commitment to delivering amazing results for our clients.”

Primary Comms Group works with iconic brands, such as Luxaflex Blinds, in consumer marketing, advises clients who lead research in the new energy economy in government relations, provides community education services for Australia’s biggest energy retailers in Electricity Safety Week, along with corporate communication for BOC.

The Primary Comms Group team directly support clients to access sophisticated and efficient communication, engagement, creative and marketing services. The depth of experience, loyalty and expertise saves clients valuable time and builds incredible trust and makes great things happen.

To coincide with the launch of the Primary Comms Group family, four new websites reflective of the new brand and visual identities, have been unveiled. The websites showcase the campaign experience and includes a wide portfolio of clients from consumer to tech, energy to industrial, tourism to sport and deep expertise with not-for-profits and mental health clients.

About Primary Comms Group

Primary Comms Group comprises of Primary Communication, Primary Create and Primary Engage. Founded more than thirty-two years ago today, Primary services clients across government, non-profit and business organisations who appreciate deep thinking, quick action and a team that makes great things happen for clients every single day.
Our three specialist businesses offer experts in creative design, strategic communication, and stakeholder engagement.

Primary Communication – high impact PR, government relations and marketing communication
Primary Create – advertising, design and persuasive creative concepts
Primary Engage – building community and stakeholder relationships and understanding

For the love of engagement

March 31, 2022Uncategorizedadcreators

A considered engagement processes must therefore be front of mind for any business or organisation, and carefully planned from the outset, not treated as an afterthought.

Be it expanding a retail outlet, developing a commercial precinct or a freight hub, or planning a solar farm, it pays to develop and implement community and stakeholder engagement strategy to;

help raise community and stakeholder awareness of a planning proposal;
encourage open and genuine dialogue with community and other stakeholders;
build trust by responding to community interests, concerns and issues; and
ensure an approach that aligns with a State or Territory authorities’ best practice community and stakeholder engagement guidelines.

So what are some considerations?

Go where the people are. Community engagement is centred around the community and the people in it, so people should be at the centre of your engagement.

People want to talk to people. Now more than ever human connection is fundamental. This is when you leave your expert self at the office and listen to understand, without bias or judgement, taking in the good, the bad and the ugly.

Having boots on the ground is essential. It shows the community that you care about what they think and want to hear from them directly. Regardless of whether you are at a town hall meeting or speaking with locals at the shopping mall, being there will provide rich insight into wants, needs, and thoughts. When it comes to major projects, the community values true two-way consultation with the proponent. The information collected is valuable and can be used to help inform a better planning proposal for a site expansion or an infrastructure project.

Community sentiment can be summed up in a few quick conversations. Trending thoughts and concerns won’t take long to emerge. You may receive overwhelming support for a project, but it is always fascinating how, no matter how minor the issue with a proposal is, it is verbalised the quickest.

It’s “old school” and “new school”, not “old school” versus “new school”. You can have both. The community engagement landscape is ever changing with tools, practices and methodology changing significantly over the last two decades. Although as a community we are becoming more tech savvy and connected online, particularly during the pandemic, we must incorporate “old school” techniques such as workshops, coffee meetings, door knocking, letterboxing and stalls to extract information from your target audience.

However, online community engagement must be front of mind. Online platforms are a cost-effective way to maximise your reach, and typically, a website and email address enables information sharing and conversation with people who – for whatever reason – are not able to meet in-person.

Monitoring social media to keep a finger on the community pulse is also a good idea.

Diversity of voices paints a fuller picture. Even in the smallest communities and towns, people know people and can wear many hats. It is critical to speak with a varied range of stakeholders to ensure everyone feels heard, included and valued.

Ultimately, you want to reach a point where people are informed, feel heard and their concerns addressed. This may mean some compromises but having the community and stakeholders consulted and engaged will mean they are more likely to become invested in seeing the planning proposal progress and the approval process completed.

Jessie is an award-winning community engagement practitioner who also brings experience in communication and advocacy strategy and implementation.

Pre-election Budget unlikely to improve polls, and election result unclear

March 30, 2022Uncategorizedadcreators

At its heart, the budget provides short-term fiscal relief to millions of people who are seeing global events driving higher prices for everyday commodities and fuel.

Sweeteners dominating the headlines included a $250 cash payment to low income earners, fuel excise cut, mental health services, $1bn for local manufacturing, $18bn for infrastructure and a surprise increase in the Low to Medium Income Tax Offset.

In the medium term, this Budget bets that global recovery from the pandemic will continue and domestic inflation won’t soar out of control. So the government is painting hopefulness.

Will it have a lasting effect and influence the choices voters make at the ballot box? And can organisations guess who will win from the current situation? The answer isn’t clear – and for that you can thank deeply-rooted voter cynicism.
The Government’s public polling numbers are awful. But that might not matter on election day.

For many years, the impact of a Budget was measured by opinion polling, which reflected voting intentions at a particular time. Perversely, it’s hard to recall a Budget in recent memory that produced a positive bounce in any incumbent government’s numbers.

That’s because most of a cynical voting public are almost totally disengaged right now. They might not be expressing affection for either of the Prime Ministerial contenders, and they haven’t started to make their decisions.
If we’ve learned anything in recent years, it’s not to trust polling that’s based on universal swings and predictive preference flows.

Once upon a time, respondents answered landlines and even spoke with pollsters on their doorsteps. Not any longer.

Polling companies are trying a range of methodologies to keep up with societal shifts.

It is a truism that voters almost always vote through their hip pocket. The difference this time is that both major parties are trying to appeal to an electorate that’s tired, jaded and very focussed on their own backyards.
That means all meaningful politics is local and it’s likely that this election will (again) be decided in a handful of electorates with appeals to individuals via social media rather than through unwatched TV debates or staged photo opportunities.

At this time of an election campaign, organisations must be very cautious about getting caught in storm of public debate. There are three golden rules at this time:

Keep all your bridges open, you never know how the election will travel until the votes are counted
Respect that all candidates are in a wild public battle for their jobs and livelihood – this is not a time for coffee catch-ups or administrivia
Balance any opportunity for public debate, with the risk of getting into a dog fight. Especially when the dogs are expert and bred for battle.

During election campaigns the machinery of federal government gets locked up into ‘caretaker mode’, where decisions are suspended and neutrality reigns supreme. They will not want to get involved with the Morrison government celebrating their nuanced budget, or the Albanese opposition responding with pointed brickbats.

In the coming days we will learn about the timing of this next election, so take great care of your policy positions and relationships across all sides of the political debating chamber.

Craig Regan, Senior Counsel, Government Affairs

The State of play in the upcoming Federal elections

March 29, 2022Uncategorizedadcreators

Between COVID, floods and the tragedy of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, somewhere the news cycle is going to have to factor in the upcoming Federal Election.

Slated for mid to late May, it has been argued the domestic and global turbulence engulfing the media is exactly what both sides of politics want – an environment of little scrutiny and even less substance.

Labor has deliberately released little in the way of public policy. This responds to the failure of its 2019 strategy where the party released incredibly detailed policy suites, but lost the election despite nearly universal predictions of a win.

As for the Coalition, it has been weathering rolling disasters – be they natural and environmental or political and self-inflicted – and has struggled to stay on top of its current agenda let alone establish a new one.

Meanwhile disillusionment with both major sides has the so-called Independents again being touted as holding the potential balance of power – “so-called” because their commonalities and unity of messaging bears remarkable resemblance to those of political parties, bringing to mind the expression “if it walks like a duck and talks like duck…”

However, this has only occurred twice since Federation in 1901 – once in 1940 and then again in 2010. With polling becoming increasingly less indicative of actual outcomes, many look to betting markets for a guide.

Given current odds have Labor at $1.32, the Coalition at $3.20, and $41 if the independents decide which side holds government, it could be considered the election is Labor’s to lose.

A reflection on the expectations versus the outcomes of the 2019 Federal Election suggests that at this stage of the election cycle, it is still very much anyone’s guess as to who will be governing Australia after the 2022 election.

By Duncan Bremner

Duncan is Primary’s Senior Counsel, public affairs, with extensive and trusted networks in business politics, government, and media

Cutting through the noise

March 27, 2022Uncategorizedadcreators

So, you have laid out your business objectives and your strategy is crystal clear.

You move on to tactics and a key pillar of your strategy is media relations. Your eyes are firmly set on getting that golden nugget of coverage in the media title that everyone wants to be in.

What’s next?

The media cycle that we live in is 24/7. This, however, coupled with time-poor journalists means it has never been more important for businesses to ensure they are reaching the right journalists in the right media outlet, with the right messages to get cut-through.

Here are a couple of tips to get you started

Why are you talking? Really have a think about why you’re trying to secure media coverage and more importantly, why anybody should care. Egos aside, this step will really help determine what audiences your messages are relevant for.
Invest time in planningFor most companies, getting media coverage requires careful planning, message development and a splash of creativity; but it’s also a journey of building credibility and connection. Reviewing objectives against any upcoming announcements can help create a hook. This will also help ensure you are going to the most fitting outlet and journalist for your story.
Third party endorsementHave you got someone credible that can tell the journalist how awesome you are? Bring them along for the ride! Endorsements from scientists, customers, research bodies, academia, and stakeholders add another layer of credibility to your story.
Collateral is keyNot everyone absorbs words well. Striking images showing you doing your thing will help appease those right-brainers, and so will assets such as infographics and charts where possible.

A great way to understand your target and get inspired is to immerse yourself in your target publications. For instance, look at trends in approach, get to know the names of the journalists and what the key ingredients are in a great story.

It was a super Saturday but the NSW by-election results will count for little

March 7, 2022Generaladcreators

A summary of the results from the February 12 by-elections following distribution of preferences:

Bega: The ALP’s Dr Michael Holland has won the seat vacated by Andrew Constance from Liberal Fiona Kotvjos following a 12% swing
Monaro: The Nationals’ Nicole Overall has retained the seat vacated by John Barilaro but Labor candidate Bryce Wilson picked up a 6.4% swing
Strathfield: Labor’s Jason Yat-Sen Li has held Jodi McKay’s seat, fighting off Liberal challenger Bridget Sakr but suffering a slight 0.6% swing
Willoughby: Liberal Tim James has retained Glady Berejiklian’s former seat for his party against Labor’s Larissa Penn, resisting a 17.7% swing away.

While the loss of Bega to Labor has pushed Dominic Perrottet’s Coalition further into minority government, the result wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Since coming to office, the NSW Coalition has suffered massive swings in by-elections and these can be interpreted as corrections to big margins achieved at the 2011 and 2015 elections. Its one positive result was in the Upper Hunter by-election in May 2021.

The so-called Super Saturday of polls were held against a background of a new Premier having made the mistake of rolling back COVID restrictions too hard and too fast pre-Christmas before the impact of the Omicron variant had subsided and having to walk back his decision.

There was also a sense that despite new faces at the top, this is a government that is tiring in contrast to an Opposition that is becoming competitive.

The net result of the Government losing one seat is that It will be a little keener to negotiate with the cross bench to manage the passage of legislation.

Most mid-term by-elections are a lot like pre-season football trial matches The win by Liberal Tim James in Willoughby comes after postal votes brought him back from the brink, but it will be a vague memory by the time the Coalition faces its grand final at the March 2023 poll.

And on the Opposition benches, Labor’s inability to get good traction in Strathfield was a letdown.

These by-elections were all prompted by resignations. Departing local members usually take away a degree of support for the incumbent party due to their personal following.

That was certainly the case with the departure of Premier Gladys Berejiklian following her difficulties at ICAC. Willoughby was held on a 21.0% margin.

The by-election in Bega (LIB 6.9%) was brought about by the departure of former Transport Minister Andrew Constance to contest Eden Monaro in the forthcoming Federal election.

Former Deputy Premier and Nationals leader John Barilaro triggered the vote in Monaro (National Party 11.6%) by retiring, and former Labor leader Jodi McKay’s decision to quit after being deposed from Labor’s top job put Strathfield (ALP 5.0%) into play.

The notable aspect in all four seats was the strong reliance on local candidates and local issues. Perrottet was nowhere to be seen on Coalition election material.

In Willoughby, Tim James was seen as a blow-in by some electors – despite growing up in the area. Whether James being a white male following a woman with an Armenian surname had a big impact on his result is highly debatable. In the end, Willoughby voters gave the Government a clip around the ears without hitting it too hard.

In Bega, voters chose a high-profile Labor candidate over a less-known Liberal who was seeking to replace a high-profile local member.

Health was a hot local issue. Labor’s successful candidate, Dr Michael Holland, was an obstetrician with the Southern NSW Local Health District. He created his own headlines in November last year when he resigned his position after telling a Parliamentary inquiry that the Moruya maternity unit was “unsafe”.

In Monaro, Nichole Overall is the first woman to be elected to represent the seat and has a good local profile, partly because she is married to a former mayor of Queanbeyan.

In Strathfield, previously unsuccessful Labor candidate Jason Yat-sen Li won the seat despite claims he had been the subject of a racist undercurrent stemming from the Federal Government’s anti-Chinese Communist Party stance.

A former candidate for the nearby Federal seat of Bennelong, he faced a strong opponent in Liberal Bridget Sakr and his primary vote was eroded by The Greens and independent Elisabeth Farrelly, a former newspaper columnist.

It is hard to read much from any of the results into the looming Federal election. Strathfield, for example, overlaps the Federal seat of Reid but includes many of its strongest ALP polling booths.

The overall results are consistent with the most recent Federal Essential poll that gave Labor a slender one-point lead after preferences, which is much closer than the last Newspoll at the end of February giving Labor a 55-45 2PP lead.

What is notable is that 42% of voters across the four seats choose to lodge a pre-poll or postal vote which was in line with the 2019 Federal election. Every elector was sent a pre-poll form as an anti- COVID measure, and the highest rate of early voting was in Bega (50.7%).

74% of CISOs Would Pay a Premium to Work With Thought Leaders

May 19, 2021Generaladcreators

Research uncovers the importance of thought leadership influencing cybersecurity buying decisions

Security PR network, Code Red, released its global research report into the value of thought leadership – showing 74 per cent of Chief Information Security Officer’s (CISO) would pay a premium to work with cybersecurity vendors they regard as thought leaders.

Findings reveal that thought leadership plays a fundamental role in a CISO’s procurement choices with 97 per cent using thought leadership content at different stages of the buying decision process and 43 per cent when making a final decision on appointing a cybersecurity company.

Thought leadership is paramount even after a deal has been struck, with 35 per cent of CISOs increasing their business with an existing supplier because of strong thought leadership.

Trust is central to the way CISOs access thought leadership and make decisions. Three key means of obtaining trusted content that was clear was including independent research using keywords, reviewing content by networks of trust (friends, family, and colleagues), and reading trusted trade media publications.

Assumed methods for sourcing content such as paid advertising and direct EDMs ranked lower, while the way CISOs consume thought leadership content is shifting due to COVID-19, with 71 per cent preferring videos and webinars.

As the industry continues to shift and machine learning and data analytics continue to rise, it comes as no surprise that 28 per cent of Australian and New Zealand IT professionals ranked Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the most popular topic for decision makers.

Elaine Banoub, Technology Director at Primary Communication, Code Red’s Australian Partner said the speed at which cyberthreats continues to evolve has made it clear that cybersecurity is no longer an IT issue, but a business one.

“With the constantly changing threat landscape, it is critical that businesses have access to strategic cyber threat intelligence to be able to properly manage a risk. Technology disruption, regulations and cyber-threats are rapidly evolving in the cybersecurity sector, and CISOs are looking at experts in the field to provide valuable insights, opinion, and interpretation.”

Companies investing in long-term visionary thinking and discussion will gain an important competitive advantage, while building value for stakeholders in their own business. This new research provides invaluable insight into the minds of CISOs, that if used correctly can lead to an increase in engagement and sales for cybersecurity and technology companies.

PR professionals and cyber marketers need to improve the quality of their industry commentary and technology forecasting and deliver the content on the right platform for the audience,” added Ms Banoub.

Other key findings from the 2021 Code Red Global Research Report include:

The top three places cyber professionals source thought leadership content are IT and cyber security trade media publications (54 per cent), direct keyword search online (46 per cent) and content shared by friends and networks on social media (31 per cent). The assumed marketing avenues of social media ads, online ads and EDM are bottom three sources.
55 per cent of cybersecurity professionals spend 1-3 hours a week consuming thought leadership content.
Video (43 per cent) and webinars (38 per cent) as preferred formats for thought leadership content are on the rise, but trade media articles remain on top.
Network security (23 percent) was the most popular cybersecurity thought leadership topic, 21 per cent, opted for cloud security and cyber security software and services, while 18 per cent were more interested in AI and machine learning.

Code Red commissioned the report of 819 IT security decision makers from companies across 10 countries, including Australia. See the full report here.

Beyond buzz words. What do creativity and innovation mean in practice?

April 20, 2021Generaladcreators

The past year definitely put a spanner in the works for how we create. Catching up in person became impossible and most businesses went through sudden change (including a shift to digital), as well as internal restructures. Many employers and employees stepped into the unfamiliar, and navigating uncertainty became a daily occurrence. Despite this, adversity led to rapid problem solving and innovation across the globe – from newly set up online community help seeking platforms, to virtual town halls.

At Primary, we faced all these challenges internally, while supporting clients to strategise, design and deliver key creative projects. How did we do this?

We had a chat to some of our account directors about what creativity and innovation mean across the areas of support Primary provide to clients. Here’s what they had to say.

Community Engagement

Chris Downy
Executive Director, Primary Engage

Conversation is the birthplace of creativity.

Our program design always starts at the objective each client is seeking to achieve. We then map out the issues landscape and identify strategic options to achieve the desired outcome – essentially developing a community engagement strategy is problem solving at its finest.

The key ingredient to successful engagement is understanding your audience (their pleasures and pain points) and connecting with them in creative and meaningful ways. Talking and listening to the people most affected by the client’s project (grassroots engagement) provides invaluable insights into improving existing products or developing new products. In the past year technology became an important tool in communicating with audiences and led to innovative engagement – the use of virtual town halls being one example.

Public Relations

Elaine Banoub
Senior Account Director, Primary Communication

Creativity is the secret sauce for any successful PR campaign. A creative approach & strategy can help cut through the noise, add new perspectives, and can really bring home your message to the right audience. A creative and relevant campaign will keep your audience captivated and provide the outcome you are looking for if executed correctly. Take for instance, the Black Lives Matter campaign that went viral globally. In addition to people supporting the cause in public spaces and conversations, the movement dominated social media to shine the spotlight on the matter.

We were all challenged last year with the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Events were cancelled, and individuals were forced to work remotely in lieu of social distancing. While this has been an extremely challenging period for many, it’s provided businesses and individuals with a chance to step back and reconsider their programs and their go-to-market strategy.

At Primary, we approach every brief received with a brainstorm session that involves the entire team. No idea is a bad idea, and some of our best campaigns last year, despite the challenges, resulted from our initial virtual brainstorm session, which included a healthy mix of creative input and strategic approaches.

Design

Lincoln Graham
Creative Director, Primary Create

I’m a firm believer that the key to creative success is simplicity and that’s why it’s often so difficult. In fact, the difficulties we faced over 2020 in many ways paved a way for a more simplified and streamlined approach, delivering new efficiencies and greater effectiveness. We were able to work with clients in a more collaborative manner from the outset, in setting strategy, building briefs and executing creative. Our clients became part of the creative process in more ways than one, offering their own services, using their own channels and often featuring in their own campaign assets.

Internal

Chris Hall
CEO, Primary

Pre 2020 we wouldn’t have conceived of a future of work away from the office. In 2020 we all worked from home which presented some challenges, but it didn’t stop us committing our energy and imagination to solving challenges for our clients. In March last year we began daily hacks dedicated to finding client solutions in a viral world without face-to-face connection. This grew into virtual workshops for clients spanning home offices, living rooms and bedrooms with some of Australia’s biggest companies and departments facing unprecedented challenges. Through thorough preparation we unleashed a wave of creativity collaborating with clients talking into webcams harnessing ideas and delivering real outcomes.

Do you have an idea that you want to bring to life? Get in touch with our team.

Real stories create real impact: A case study

March 10, 2021Generaladcreators

15,000 women experience homelessness each year in NSW alone. But many wouldn’t know this, because women’s homelessness is invisible.

On International Women’s Day 2021, Blur Projects and Women’s Electoral Lobby Australia launched UNSEEN – a collaborative arts project situated in Sydney’s CBD sharing the hidden experiences of some of those thousands of women who live without a home.

Primary provided pro bono media relations support to represent the truth of women’s diverse experiences, increase public understanding of the issue and drive change. This included the development of key messages, media release, talent coaching, briefings, pitching of exclusive content and interview arrangement.

The result? A feature placement on 9news.com.au, which was the second most read article of the day with a potential reach of more than 8 million people. Real stories make real impact.

To find out more about UNSEEN or get involved, visit: www.unseen.house

The Wonderful Women in Our Lives

March 8, 2021Generaladcreators

Women lead on a global, national and personal level.

At Primary, we are lucky to be surrounded by incredible women in our workplace and personal lives. So, we’re celebrating by sharing a bit about the women who make a difference in our lives.

Bernadette: “My incredible mother is my inspiration and life coach. Juggling motherhood and a career whilst making time for herself, family and friends; she taught me a woman can do anything she sets her mind to.”

Mia: “My colleague Mary-Anne is one of my greatest mentors and I wouldn’t be where I am today without her kindness, support and great advice. She pushes me to succeed and motivates me to not only work hard but to always believe in myself. Her intelligence and work ethic inspires me every day.”

Elaine: “Both my mother and mother-in-law inspire me every day. They are both carers in their roles and despite various challenges, they are always positive. They teach me every day to be strong, especially in tough times and to stand up for what I believe in.”

Liz: “Thank god for sisters! I have two older sisters who shower me with love, support and empowerment every single day, always without judgement! For 3 women from the same family, we couldn’t be more different…yet the same. Striving to be the best version of ourselves every single day & learning from each other as we go.”

Frank: “My mamma. A book of adjectives does not do her justice but let’s go with the most intelligent, kind, giving, gentle and yet strong woman whose insights have helped make me a better version of myself and whom, no matter what the time of day, will whip up a pasta dish for you (including lasagne like you have never tasted).”

Renee: “Mary Jackson, NASA’s first female black engineer. As one of few women to enter Aeronautical Engineering in the 1950s, Mary had to not only contend with rampant sexism, but also racism in a then-segregated society. Mary demonstrated that it was both possible to break through the glass ceiling, and help remove the ceiling as well for future generations. In her 27-year tenure at NASA, she worked tirelessly to change the organisation’s culture to encourage and inspire the next generation of female engineers.”

Mary-Anne: “I am inspired by the women at Primary. Each and every one has enriched my days in one way or another; whether it’s professional or personal advice, mentoring, or collaboration/support on a project. I feel that the level of care and support that each one shows daily is inspirational and contributes to the whole team.”

Chris: “My wife is amazing. As the mother of three young children, she is the centrepiece of our family and somehow finds time to hold down a big job. She inspires us all to be better.”

Cora: “My sister Therese. She taught me that life is for exploring, living, challenging yourself and to always try new things. Don’t limit yourself. The world is your oyster. Be brave enough to go after what you want.”

Danielle: “My mum is my rock. The past year has been a tough one, so much uncertainty and forever changing plans, but having my Mum as a sounding board created a sense of calm in the chaos. I like to think her resilience is rubbing off on me, and her humour.”

Annabelle: “A moment in time from Sheila Swaine, chairman of my uni (Mitchell CAE) in the 1980s which I often quote. “Chairman is a position described in law. I doubt anyone will confuse me for a man or a piece of furniture. I am the Chairman of Mitchell CAE.””