Episode 7

full
Published on:

30th Jan 2025

Lorraine Bridges | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)

What differentiates a 'campaign' from business-as-usual comms? What are the most important ingredients for running a successful communications campaign? How do you build partnerships based on trust and reciprocity?

In this episode Peter is joined by Lorraine Bridges, Head of Campaigns and Deputy Director of Communications at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

She talks about the NIHR's 2023 'Shape the Future' campaign that won her and her team a CIPR Excellence Award and reflects on what goes into running an effective campaign, storytelling, relationship building and the power of setting objectives.

This week's question for our listeners:

Think back to a memorable campaign you've run - if you could do it again, what one thing would you do differently?

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In the episode Peter refers to an article citing statistics related to recruitment for clinical trials. Here is a link to the source: https://bit.ly/4hwsVH9

N.B. Lorraine has since pointed out that the source is a few years old now and recruitment rates have improved since then.

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📕 Lorraine's book recommendation: Multipliers by Liz Wiseman

Visit us at www.orinococomms.com | Contact me at peter@orinococomms.com | Join our community and subscribe to our newsletter at orinococomms.substack.com | Tell us what you think bit.ly/orinoco-speakpipe_pod

Transcript
Speaker:

It's quite a skill to

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carve out something

simple in a complex environment.

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Research is a very complex landscape,

but that's our strength as well.

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We have many, many, many stories to tell.

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Welcome to Research

Unraveled, the podcast,

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where we explore the niche but impactful

world of research communications.

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In particular,

we're investigating the complexity

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that lies at the heart of this field

and hearing from communications experts

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about how they navigate

and overcome or unravel that complexity.

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Research on brought is brought to you

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by me, Peter Barker,

owner of Orinoco Communications,

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an agency where we specialize in working

with research based organizations.

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This month my guest is Lorraine

Bridges, head of campaigns

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and deputy director of communications

at NIH,

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the UK's National Institute

for Health and Care Research.

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Essentially,

the research brought to the NHS last year,

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Lorraine

and her team won a CI PR Excellence Award.

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That's the PR and communication

industry's leading awards in the UK

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for an amazing campaign

that they ran in:

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Shape the Future,

which is all about encouraging more people

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to get involved

and to volunteer for health research.

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So that's what we'll be talking about

in this conversation.

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Campaigns.

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How do you run a successful, research

focused campaign?

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What makes it different from day to day?

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Business as usual communications.

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We also talk about relationship

building with partners, storytelling

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for impact in action,

and the power of setting objectives.

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It's all great stuff.

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So let's dive straight in.

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Laura, thanks so much for chatting to me

today.

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I think to kick off, for those

who are either,

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you know, non-UK listeners

perhaps, or people who don't work in

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particularly in health

and medical research.

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Could you talk to us a little bit

about what

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NIH is and what it does?

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Yeah, sure. Thanks, Peter.

Thanks for having me.

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So the National Institute for Health

and Care

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Research is we essentially fund and enable

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health and care research

across England primarily.

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So we are, in a sense,

the research arm of the NHS.

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But we work also across

social care through research.

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We are improving life saving lives.

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Our mission is to improve the health

and wealth of the nation,

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so we're kind of enabling and delivering

research across the UK so that we can

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improve health and quality of life,

really for people way into the future.

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Fantastic. Thank you.

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And so your role

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that you are head of campaigns

and Deputy Director of Communications.

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Could you explain a little bit

about what the difference is between

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running a campaign

from a comms perspective,

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and the sort of more day to day

communications that you have to do?

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Yeah.

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I will mention something that comes up

quite a bit really, but a campaign,

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in essence, is a program of work

which is very targeted.

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You have a set goal, objectives and KPIs,

and a distinct budget

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in which you have to solve or tackle

a particular problem,

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an issue and other communications is more

of a kind of your evergreen business

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as usual kind of drumbeat

of communications,

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where you're perhaps

just trying to raise awareness

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of the organization

and research more broadly.

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A campaign would tackle and seek

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to address a very particular issue

within a specific timescale.

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I would say. Lovely.

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I'm looking forward

to exploring what that means.

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And I think if we can do so

through a particular campaign,

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so the one I want to talk about today

is the:

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Shape the Future award winning campaign,

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I should say,

and we could talk a bit about that.

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After we've discussed

it. But shape the future.

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What was it?

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How did it come about and how does it fit

with with nature sort of overall mission?

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Yeah, sure.

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So the Shape the Future

campaign came about because last year

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it was the NHS 75th anniversary.

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And that was obviously a huge event.

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Right.

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You know, we have many, many, research

professionals working in the NHS.

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So as I said,

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we are the kind of delivery arm,

if you like the research delivery armed.

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That was a very,

very significant event for us.

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But, you know,

there was a massive amount of work

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going on within the NHS itself

to create a lot of noise around this.

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So we knew it was a very crowded

marketplace, first of all, but we knew

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we had to make sure that research was

recognized within that anniversary event

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because we so core to what the NHS does

now, and we as a core to the innovation

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side of the NHS, making sure the NHS uses

the most cutting edge

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treatments and diagnoses

and treatments and devices, etc..

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So the first thing we did really

is to make contact very early contact

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with NHS England team to find out

what their strategic objectives

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were for the campaign.

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Obviously align ourselves with those

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but also just

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to build that relationship

really early on to, in some ways

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bring research to

the forefront of their minds to make sure

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that they included research messages

throughout their core narrative,

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because researchers

say central really servicing the NHS staff

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and their core range.

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The campaign really resonated with us

because we wanted to make it

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a very positive and uplifting campaign

which talked about,

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you know, all of the great things

the NHS has achieved

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and is set to achieve, for the future.

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And they also wanted it to

to put staff at the center of that.

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And so we knew we could

with one with those objectives.

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And if you like, adapt them to

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within the framework of what again,

I hate air dance.

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So that was really our starting point.

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And because we wanted to also launch

something, was really optimistic

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and uplifting,

because the NHS is often in the news,

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but not always for the right reasons,

but the NHS is something

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to be extremely proud of,

so we wanted it to be positive and

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research happens

in many different settings.

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It's delivered by many different people.

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Is a broad, it has a broad scope.

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So but we wanted to unite people around

a simple message, which is by taking time

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research, by delivering research, whatever

your role is, you can shape the future.

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That is essentially

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what research is doing it

improving health and care for the future.

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So we kind of came up with this lie

in which we felt,

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was simple to understand

and that everyone could get behind.

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Fantastic.

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And so this was encouraging members of the

public to volunteer or to participate,

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sign themselves up for research projects,

to take part in studies and so on.

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Is that

what we did is we kind of separated,

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given the NHS, 75 was a year really

a kind of a year long campaign.

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We first of all split

the campaign into two segments.

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So spring and autumn phase, if you like.

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And then we designed the campaign

around three strands.

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If you like to try and help

our stakeholders, internal and external,

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understand what we were doing

and you know, what we were planning.

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And so we had three elements.

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One was the public facing element

as you say, encouraging the public

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to take part in research

to sign up to research studies and trials.

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It could be, helping to shape research

from the very beginning,

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ensure that, you know, materials,

explain research, are easy to understand.

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We worked really closely with the public

as partners in that sense.

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So we encourage people to sign up

to be part of research volunteer registry.

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That was one key strand.

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The other question was about telling

what we call impact stories.

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So stories about how the research is over

the years have created huge advances.

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You know, whether it would be in cancer

or arthritis or the Covid vaccine.

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So telling the story of how research

has changed people's lives.

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And then the segment

was really around building on

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a key, a key element of what

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the NHS England were looking at,

which was celebrating staff.

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And for that,

we worked really closely with partners

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and stakeholders

across the health and care landscape.

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So NHS England again, working with them

and using their own channels

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to get at the word, went out

there, got research, was very powerful.

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We worked with workforce

training and education and NHS,

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but we also worked with other partners,

for example the Royal Society

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for Public Health,

Social Care, Institute for excellence

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and we worked also

with the Clinical Academic Training Hub.

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So that's the kind of career top

that that that is targeted

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towards clinical academics.

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So very early on I saw that strand

as a very much a partnership page.

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And that really, really worked

well for us.

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So by kind of focusing

on the three strands,

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we hope to clearly articulate,

you know, what our campaign was about.

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And I think if you make it

really simple like that and break it down,

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people can understand

how they can get involved as well.

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Wonderful.

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I suppose when we think about, you know,

you said celebrating the NHS

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and thinking Journal, for example,

the pandemic of the sort of public

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displays of support and solidarity

with the NHS, often the focus is on,

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I guess, the frontline workers,

the nurses, the A&E doctors.

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Do you feel that

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the research side of things,

perhaps the flies under the radar a bit?

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And were you speaking to people

as part of the campaign, or to understand

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what their current attitudes

to the research are?

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We know, we know because obviously we run

campaigns fairly frequently.

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We have acquired a level of insight

about what

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motivates people to take part in research.

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We have a very, very sort of high

satisfaction rate in terms of those people

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who take part in research

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are very likely to take part again,

which in the kind of like 90% plus,

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and they're very likely to tell their

friends and family as well to do the same.

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So broadly speaking, people

that take part in research will

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they'll be taking part in research

as part of their treatment essentially.

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So, you know, it

enables them to get access to new drugs

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that are on market, new types of treatment

that that are being looked

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at, new ways of delivering services

and so on.

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So that will be that experience of

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research

in the how they acquire an understanding.

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It will be because they've got a specific,

you know, condition

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or illness

that they're looking looking to treat.

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Other people might

may just come across a bit like,

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you know, that the sort of blood

and transport service

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and they do awareness campaigns around

giving blood.

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It's the same thing.

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We we always need people

to take part in research.

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You can take part in research

from your home, you know, taking part

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in a kind of computer

based research study.

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So research comes in all types of guises,

if you like.

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But to go back to your original point,

I think those that take part in research

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find it's an extremely positive

and rewarding experience and the really,

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really want to talk about it and tell us

about encourage others to do the same.

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But, there's still a way to go

to get the wider population,

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you know, to raise awareness

amongst the wider population

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and the very different ways

in which they can get involved as well.

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And we know that by word of mouth,

your friends and family

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are more likely to take part in research

if they know someone else

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that that's done that as well.

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So that insight we know

from previous campaigns, we're able

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to kind of build on that insight

and fit that into the design.

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There is quite a serious issue,

isn't there, around recruitment

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for people getting involved in research?

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I, I just in the last a week

or so I've read somewhere about, I think

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it was from nature itself actually,

that I can't remember the exact stash.

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I will need to check this,

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and I'll put the put the exact stats

in the link to the article

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I was talking about in the

in the episode notes, but it was something

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like 45% of research project studies.

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Trials aren't reaching the targets

in terms of participant recruitment

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that they sort of state when they're when

they're applying for the grant and so on.

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And I don't know what proportion,

but number of those.

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As a result,

those studies don't don't work.

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So I guess I'm just trying to emphasize

that this is something

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that people do need to get involved,

don't they?

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Because otherwise lots of the sort

of the opportunities for learning more

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and for, for for understanding disease

and mechanisms and treatments and so on,

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when not having the opportunity

to find out

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simply because enough

people aren't getting involved.

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Is that a fair assessment?

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Well, we we completely you know, we

we said that we need the public,

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we need people to participate in research

in order

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that we can achieve our mission,

to achieve our mission

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to improve the health

and wealth of the nation.

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So it's kind of they work.

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They work hand in hand

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and the good news is we are seeing more

and more people, you know,

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there's an increasing appetite basically

for people to do their to take part.

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We've just in the last yeah.

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Now I'll be part of research.

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Volunteer registry

is now signposted from the NHS app.

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So we see the huge increase in people

signing up to

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that research

registry is really, really skyrocketed.

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And there's no doubt that

that people want to make a difference.

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They want to,

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you know,

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we saw this during the pandemic that then

people want to do something altruistic.

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They want to do something for others.

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And they,

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you know,

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if this is something

that everybody can do,

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everybody can sign up

to be part of research and play the role

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in improving treatments,

enabling the best drugs to be discovered.

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Making sure that you know the right

screening opportunities are available

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for cancer patients and so on.

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So I think that there's

a massive appetite.

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I think we're really starting to see

that now.

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And I think it's quite exciting

that opportunities

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to take part in research,

as well as increasing across primary care.

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For example, you can go to your doctor

and ask your doctor,

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you know well, what research opportunities

can I take part in?

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Anyone can take part,

and we do need a range

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and diversity of people

to take part as well.

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It's really important

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that we have, people of all ages

and ethnicities as well to take part.

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Wonderful. Well,

I just downloaded the NHS app.

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Oh, make sure I take a look to see

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how I can take the book

to to volunteer my services.

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But that's great, great, great to hear.

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And so I think back to the campaign itself

to shape the future campaign.

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So as you know,

this, this podcast, the focus.

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So the theme around

it is research communication.

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But looking in particular,

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the complexities that people face

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in the nature of the communications

they're doing.

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So I think would be really interesting

to explore what's involved

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in running a campaign of this scale

and of this ambition and what the

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the particular complexities

involved around that are or where,

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in this particular campaign

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is there anything that really stuck out

as something that was fiendishly complex

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that you had to had to overcome

in order to run a successful campaign?

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I think, yes.

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I mean, I think,

I think the nature is by its nature,

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it's a very, you know, there are

complexities to the organization,

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as you say, because we work across

translational, clinical, applied research.

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So we're doing research,

in at different stages,

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if you like, of the cycle,

research takes place, as I mentioned,

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in primary care across across

hospitals, in local councils.

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And it's also delivered

by lots of different health

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care professionals,

you know, sort of a research.

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Nurses,

midwives, physios, clinical academics

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are all

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delivering research

or working on research in some way.

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And so because of it, RAF,

I think sometimes it's hard to know

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where to start, you know,

to try and explain what research is.

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And also

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because there were so many fantastic

trials and studies taking place out there.

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So it's like, well, where do you start?

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So there's an internal complexity about,

I suppose if you do a campaign

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that on the face of it is around

celebrating the NHS, that quite rightly

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we are the National Institute

for Health and Care Research.

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So we also need to tell stories

about the incredible difference

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we're making in public

health and social care.

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So I think there'll always be,

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challenge around that,

which I think is understandable.

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Welcome to this kind of goes back,

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I think, to the question you said about

what's different in a campaign

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and everyday or other communications,

if you like,

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and when we are

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starting out with the campaign,

we always make sure that we give people

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early knowledge of what we're thinking,

what we're and I'm thinking of doing.

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So they have an opportunity to give

their views and make their contribution.

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And so that's like early consultation

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then a clear articulation of what

our objectives are.

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And, you know, the the objectives

and the vision is, is often

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something it's intrinsic to the vision

or mission of the organization.

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So it's that broader purpose.

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But I think everyone can understand

and get behind.

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And then I think it is also yeah,

I've reassuring people that we may be

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focusing our campaign on a particular

subject in spring, for example.

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But this doesn't mean to say

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we won't be looking at other subjects

for other campaigns and will always have

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that kind of regular drumbeat around,

for example, our work in social care

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or work in public health or whatever it is

that is also just as important.

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It runs alongside.

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So I think that those conversations

are really, really key.

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And I think as well, in our campaigns

team, we've we've always been very,

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very strong on having those very clear

objective from the outset,

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measurable objectives as well.

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And being very clear about that,

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because it's very easy to get pulled in

lots of different directions.

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So you do it's quite a skill

to carve out something simple

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in a, in a complex environment.

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Research is a very it is a

it is a complex, complex landscape.

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But that's our strength as well.

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So we have many, many,

many stories to tell.

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And that is a is that is a key strength.

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So that's the kind of way we've done it

and building relationships with people.

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You know, it's really important building

trust, open communication

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for campaigns to be successful.

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So we need to take people along with us.

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And that means people within

the organization and people outside.

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And it's got to be a two way street

that people see the benefit for themselves

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as well. It's really key.

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Yeah.

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So you mentioned the challenges

that you had with,

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you know, managing people's expectations

within nature,

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reassuring them perhaps that

just because it doesn't feel like

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maybe there specific areas

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being focused on right now,

that it's all part of the bigger, broader

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mission of the organization.

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And so making them feel included

and involved

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in terms of those external relationships,

then what kind of relationships

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are you talking about there,

and how did you go about, managing

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those and leveraging those,

I suppose, for the campaign's purpose?

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Yeah.

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Well, I think NHS England is the one

I'd probably pull out because,

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we've, we've done, you know, obviously

NHS England is a key partner for us,

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but we think campaigns, we've not worked

directly with them.

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So we did get in touch

with our strategic comms team

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that were delivering

NHS 75 quite early on to talk about

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how we felt research really

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complemented their objectives and

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we wanted to kind

of approach that relationship very much.

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So it's mutually beneficial.

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So we have stories about research

that add up

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something remarkable

that a research nurse is done

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or a particular piece of research

we did that went on to change some policy.

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The NHS,

which the team may not know about.

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So we've got some stories and content

if you like, that straight off the bat

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we can off

that's going to add some richness

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to their, their social media channels,

their website channels.

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So we could offer something

right from the outset.

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We set up some regular meetings

with them as well,

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which I think did

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just worked really well because it just

kept research high on their own agenda,

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where all the partners across the NHS

or healthcare space would, would meet.

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We we were always their present

talking about what we were doing.

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And then they also offered an opportunity

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to talk about research

on their own channel.

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So for example, Amanda Pritchard,

the chief executive, did a,

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did a video of and talked about research

and that got a huge response.

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:

I mean, we obviously we we produced

a lot of content for a range channels.

378

:

But if we can use

and take advantage of shared channels

379

:

and shared channels and partners,

we can reach new audiences,

380

:

we can reach people that we can't

necessarily reach outside of.

381

:

So that worked really well.

382

:

It was a quid pro

quo kind of relationship, really.

383

:

And subsequently we've seen real dividends

384

:

and we've basically maintained

really strong working relationships.

385

:

And when we won the award,

386

:

we went back to them straight away

and said, look, this award is

387

:

very much in part

thanks to all the support we got from you.

388

:

So it's it's been something

389

:

which was fairly new for this campaign,

but we certainly seek to

390

:

keep building those relationships.

391

:

So we're not just, you know,

contacting them when when it appears

392

:

that we would like something,

we were asking them to do something.

393

:

But actually, this is a genuine exchange

of knowledge, exchange of insight

394

:

and exchange of content, which is which is

what happened in this in this campaign.

395

:

Right?

396

:

So yes, you don't want it to be too

one sided.

397

:

You need to develop a relationship

with the external partners.

398

:

That's mutually beneficial.

399

:

And if you can do that, then that's going

to extend the reach of your messaging.

400

:

But what about the messaging itself?

401

:

How did you know what kind of stories

were likely to resonate with people?

402

:

Not long after I started in this role,

we did a campaign called the trailblazers.

403

:

So it's a bit of a play on words with

research trial, and that was all about

404

:

getting the public to do

to create a lot of user generated content

405

:

and encourage their friends and family

to to do the same.

406

:

And so we had a lot of insight

from that campaign.

407

:

We thought,

we know this works really well.

408

:

For me personally, that was

409

:

it was actually quite a young girl

who well, originally she was interested

410

:

to take part in research

because as sister,

411

:

I had diabetes and had taken part

in some research studies

412

:

and had, been able to manage her condition

more effectively via

413

:

these research trials as she take apart,

and as a result, it really inspired her.

414

:

And she then wanted to become

a research scientist herself.

415

:

She sort of had, you know,

a little dressed up in a white coat.

416

:

And so all this kind of stuff.

417

:

And so I think with the children

and young people, I always find that

418

:

really inspiring,

because if you can get young people

419

:

engaged in research early, it

sort of stays with them for life, really.

420

:

It becomes a bit like, you know,

giving blood once you start to give blood,

421

:

it becomes a norm. If you are.

422

:

And we want taking part in research

to be, to be normal, to be a norm,

423

:

the people, that's

something that people talk about today.

424

:

So stories really always stick out for me.

425

:

And then for this particular campaign

for the Shape the Future campaign,

426

:

we did a story,

which was picked up by the media

427

:

about a man who had prostate cancer,

428

:

and it had been going through a number

of different types of treatment

429

:

and then was offered an opportunity

to take part in a trial.

430

:

And it you know, he was sort of running

out of treatment options.

431

:

And the trial

enabled him to access new drugs,

432

:

which eventually enabled him

to push cancer to go into remission.

433

:

And he was a grandfather,

and it given him many more years with his,

434

:

with his grandchildren

and a precious time with his wife, etc.

435

:

and it really resonated with people.

436

:

I mean, we had an objective to land,

I think ten, ten pieces of national

437

:

or regional coverage,

but we got over 240 pieces in the end.

438

:

And it just shows the power

of storytelling and of course, cancer.

439

:

Something very relatable,

unfortunately, was we know that.

440

:

I think it's 1 in 3 people

now will have cancer.

441

:

So that was

442

:

I had a really, really

443

:

amazing response and,

and led to a huge number of people

444

:

going to sign up

to be part of research service.

445

:

We had a 30% increase in sign up to,

to be part of research volunteer registry.

446

:

So we know that media coverage

447

:

leads to action changes behavior.

448

:

Yeah, I remember I say,

I think that when you started at NIH,

449

:

people maybe

450

:

when they saw you coming down the corridor

to say something like,

451

:

oh, goodness, Lorraine's coming in

to ask us what our objectives are.

452

:

But I think this thing is so

453

:

that you, you know, I guess

it's easy to get lost in the noise of,

454

:

oh, fantastic, look how many likes

we've had the engagement on social media,

455

:

but without always linking it

to what the ultimate goal is, it is just.

456

:

It's just numbers, isn't it? Really? Yes.

457

:

I mean, I'm always, very focused

and honed in on outcomes.

458

:

Ultimately,

that's what we're trying to do,

459

:

is kind of lead to direct action

and tangible behavior change.

460

:

And that can take time.

461

:

That can take a period of months.

462

:

It doesn't always happen.

463

:

And you can have the start of the campaign

can be

464

:

about generating awareness, in which case,

if that's your goal,

465

:

then getting people to share social media

466

:

post or use particular hashtag has value.

467

:

But we want to kind of drive people,

obviously from awareness

468

:

to actually taking action and signing up

that that's ultimately what we want to do.

469

:

So that those are the kind of objectives

that we like to track.

470

:

And I yeah, I think it's really valuable

471

:

for everybody to start out

with a clear set of objectives because

472

:

how do you know

473

:

at the end of a piece of work

with the receive what you want, you know,

474

:

what you set out to do

if you haven't got that clear vision

475

:

from the beginning and not achieving

objectives is okay.

476

:

I think as well. We have to kind of

477

:

break down

some of the fear and anxiety about that

478

:

because that's learning something.

479

:

We evaluate and monitor

as we go along as well.

480

:

So that we don't just sort of

get to the end of something and say, well,

481

:

that didn't go very well,

you know, or whatever.

482

:

It's like you,

483

:

you take action early to adjust

and make sure that things do go well.

484

:

So you don't

you don't ever reach that point.

485

:

And so at the end of the campaign,

you will recognize you

486

:

and your team recognized for for success,

by the Chartered Institute

487

:

of Public Relations, CIPA

and that excellence awards

488

:

and best best healthcare campaign,

I believe so, yeah.

489

:

After everything

490

:

that must have been satisfying,

satisfying result for you and the team.

491

:

Yeah. Incredible.

492

:

I mean, when I first started the role, I,

493

:

I remember saying to the team,

we're going to win awards.

494

:

And, you know, so

I've got a few quick, quick clicks, but,

495

:

yeah, they say the CEI

496

:

PR Excellence Awards are the kind of the,

497

:

the Oscars, if you like, for the industry.

498

:

And so winning

that was a real testament to the hard work

499

:

across the team,

but incredible validation.

500

:

And we're really, really proud.

501

:

And I've actually been a judge

on the awards myself.

502

:

And I know how how robust the judging

process is and how difficult it is to win.

503

:

And we beat them, big agencies

and big organizations.

504

:

And so I think it's something

to be really, really proud of.

505

:

Yeah. Well many congratulations.

506

:

Thank you so much.

507

:

For for sharing all I before I let you go,

508

:

I just got a couple of general questions

not related specifically to the campaign.

509

:

Same questions that I ask all the guests.

510

:

So the first one is whether there's

any particular piece of communications

511

:

related advice that you've been given

at any point in your career

512

:

that you, you kind of think about most

often. I'll come back to.

513

:

I mean,

it's a bit of a motto for me in my life.

514

:

And it it's, it's communications

related to a degree,

515

:

but it's, it's

if you don't ask, you don't get.

516

:

And that's the sort of,

a bit of a guiding principle for me.

517

:

And I think when you're,

when you're doing a campaign,

518

:

I think go back to the partnership

work, just start it off.

519

:

If you if they would be willing

to do something for you,

520

:

what's the worst that can happen?

521

:

They can say no,

but I think, yeah, just be just be bold.

522

:

And, that's what I encourage

everyone to do as well.

523

:

So don't ask, don't get.

524

:

That's fantastic.

525

:

And final question

then is there a a book in particular

526

:

that you've read that's inspired

you with the work that you do?

527

:

Yeah, I, I want to mention a book

called multipliers that the author is

528

:

Liz Wiseman, and it's all about,

529

:

about how managers

530

:

can instead of diminishing

teams, can actually

531

:

encourage smart people.

532

:

And for smart teams,

you know, people to be smarter.

533

:

So it's about bringing out

the best in people just standing back

534

:

and acknowledging

your probably not always and often

535

:

not the smartest person in the room just

because you're perhaps the most senior.

536

:

And I'm really,

really saying that in our campaign team,

537

:

just by standing back

and giving people space

538

:

and opportunity to share their voice,

539

:

you know, bring out their talents

and skills that you probably weren't aware

540

:

they had from previous jobs

or roles or whatever.

541

:

And if you give people

if you just stand back

542

:

and allow people that space,

you will see people just fly.

543

:

They will just blossom,

spread their wings and achieve

544

:

great things so that they can stop

the tendency to kind of jump in.

545

:

I think sometimes

546

:

as a manager, as a leader,

and I think actually just staying quiet

547

:

and yeah, just, acknowledging you're not

the smartest person is, I think, great.

548

:

Yeah.

549

:

That in the sense of multiplying

550

:

smart people and, you know, really,

really building people up.

551

:

I feel really passionate about that.

552

:

That sounds fantastic.

553

:

I think I'll definitely take a

take a read.

554

:

I'm sure the people on

my team will appreciate it.

555

:

The tendency to talk too much,

I'm sure would agree.

556

:

So that sounds great.

557

:

Wonderful. Lorraine, thank you so much.

558

:

That was brilliant.

559

:

And so if people want to kind of get

a sense of what the campaign was about is,

560

:

where would they go to see now,

obviously the campaign has passed, but

561

:

is there a collection of the outputs

and sort of a or a case study?

562

:

Is how you went about it?

The people can I mean.

563

:

If people, Google shape the future

564

:

CPR actions towards that, they'll be able

to read the case study as well.

565

:

I don't.

566

:

So just encourage

anyone listening who's interested

567

:

in finding out about research to visit

be part of research.

568

:

And I hate air UK or just Google.

569

:

Be part of research and that you will see

an opportunity to sign up.

570

:

Yeah.

571

:

Be sent information about any future

trials or studies get involved.

572

:

Wonderful.

573

:

Okay, so

574

:

some very useful lessons

there from Lorraine.

575

:

Thank you Lorraine, for anybody

who's running a communications campaign

576

:

about their own organization's research,

that doesn't have to be something huge.

577

:

So nationwide awareness

campaign was major press coverage.

578

:

By Lorraine's definition,

the campaign is any piece of communication

579

:

that has the goal of addressing

a specific issue within a particular

580

:

time frame.

581

:

So what were the takeaways?

582

:

Well, we spoke about the power

of personal stories to encourage action,

583

:

importance

of setting clear objectives and evaluating

584

:

how you performing

against those throughout the campaign

585

:

and not being too hard on yourself

if you're not hitting them always,

586

:

but using that as impetus to make changes

and get back on track.

587

:

But for me, the thing

that really stuck out from Lorraine's

588

:

experience of running many comms campaigns

is what she said about partnerships,

589

:

about how to manage relationships

and expectations with

590

:

internal members of your organization,

which is very important,

591

:

many of whom have different agendas,

different priorities,

592

:

but also critically, how to manage

relationships with external partners.

593

:

And that's all built on two things

trust and reciprocity.

594

:

So don't be approaching,

595

:

those partners for the first time

just one week

596

:

before your campaign launches,

and you want some help

597

:

pushing out some social posts, connect

with them early and often.

598

:

Explain clearly what you're trying to do,

how you're going to try and achieve it,

599

:

and importantly, identify opportunities

to help each other.

600

:

That way, you can leverage each other's

reach and influence for mutual benefit.

601

:

And finally, be bold.

602

:

Don't be afraid to reach out

to an organization or an individual,

603

:

even if you feel that they might not have

an interest in what you're doing,

604

:

you never know.

605

:

So what's the harm in asking?

606

:

I would love to hear what you make of this

episode.

607

:

I'll be honest, it's quite hard to get

people to respond and engage directly.

608

:

We know people are listening,

which is fantastic,

609

:

so thank you for tuning in,

610

:

but we would like to have

an active relationship with our listeners.

611

:

So please do send us your thoughts.

612

:

I think one way

to do it actually is I'm going to start

613

:

asking direct questions at the end of each

episode to help steer the conversation.

614

:

So my question for this week is if

you have experience of running a campaign,

615

:

if you could do it again,

616

:

what would you do differently?

617

:

Let us know by email or leave a voice

note.

618

:

Ideally, we love the voice notes

to tell us what resonated in this episode

619

:

or to answer that question,

what you would do differently

620

:

if you had another chance at running

621

:

a campaign that you've done in the past,

or just generally get involved

622

:

in the conversation,

either on LinkedIn or now?

623

:

Blue sky?

624

:

I am trying out blue Sky,

seeing how it goes.

625

:

Using the hashtag, research unraveled.

626

:

That's all for this month.

627

:

Next time you hear from me,

I'll be back with our extra episode

628

:

with Bianca

reflecting on this conversation

629

:

with Lorraine Bridges and listening

to what you have to say about it.

630

:

Until then, bye.

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About the Podcast

Research Unravelled
A podcast exploring the complex world of research communications
Welcome to Research Unravelled - a podcast exploring the impactful world of research communications.

We'll be digging into the complexity that lies at the heart of this field and hearing from expert practitioners about how they navigate or unravel that complexity.

Research Unravelled is hosted by Peter Barker and brought to you by Orinoco Communications - the creative agency where we specialise in helping research organisations to tell their stories and give their research the reach it deserves.

In addition to his monthly conversations with experts Peter will also be joined by colleague and co-host, Bianca Winter, for bonus episodes where they will respond to listeners' comments and questions and discuss the latest news from the world of research comms.

About your host

Profile picture for Peter Barker

Peter Barker

Peter is a multimedia producer with more than fifteen years experience creating documentaries, animations and other forms of digital content for TV and online. Before starting Orinoco Communications in 2016 Peter worked as a television producer and director, a job that took him all over the world, filming everywhere from NASA bases in the U.S.A. to volcanic islands in the Pacific ocean to ancient Mayan ruins in Central America. Now he has a more sedate life, living with his family by the sea on the east coast of England.