Rhino campaign in Vietnam

Strategic communication aims to support a change in behaviour. "Say no to the illegal trade and consumption of rhino horns", is the message of this campaign of Education for Nature Vietnam. It aims to end the myth and rumors about the magical properties of rhino horn: “It is too late for Vietnam ’s last rhino but not too late for other rhinos in the world. Vietnam must share the responsibility in protecting rhinos by enforcing the law and dispelling the mythological belief in the value of rhino horn. Here is what you can do to help:

• Don’t consume medicines made from endangered wildlife 
• Report wildlife crimes to appropriate authorities or ENV’s Wildlife Crime Hotline 1-800-1522 
• DONATE and help support our efforts.

What is nice about the campaign is the concise explanation of the issue and the supporting cartoon visuals of the video.
The questions the campaign raises with me are the following:
1. If - as the video says - the ultra rich are the consumers, would they change their beliefs, values and behaviour by seeing this video?
2. If the general public sees the video, will the factual information trigger them into action (reporting wildlife crimes and donating money)? Or will they think: "sad, but let is move on".
3. And most importantly: what is the change strategy behind this campaign?
4. To reduce the demand for rhino horn, should we not touch on emotions, values and beliefs of the super rich? Should we not work through 'ambassadors' from this group in stead of using mass media?

Frogleaps on strategy

Strategy is not a plan you implement. Strategy is a three-fold skill set you learn along the road Ctowards desired results. You learn these skills by practicing, contemplating and practicing. In other words, the way one masters an art.

• The first skill is to unconditionally accept uncertainty on the road towards a desired result.
• The second skill is to see the unique possibility that will help us gain a decisive advantage along the road towards the desired result.
• The third skill is to timely exploit that unique possibility to gain this decisive advantage on the road towards the desired result.

The principles of the way of the strategy

In 1645 Miyamoto Musashi wrote the Book of The Five Rings. A manual on strategy for samurai. In his introduction he explains that this strategy also has guided his mastering of other skills and arts. Some of his calligraphy and drawings can still be admired in Japanese museums. Over the years his book has become a source of inspiration not only for those specializing in martial arts but also for modern managers and politicians.

How to most effectively reach your goal?

Strategy is about how to most effectively reach your goal. Most communicators concentrate on tools: brochures, videos, photo exhibitions. The question is: will that help us reach our goals? Frogleaps often gets the question: what is a strategic communication? The true answer: it is a way of life!

Value the use of tools

We paraphrase Musashi. A strategy for effective communication is not different from a strategy for success in business development or war. If you don’t appreciate strategy, you won’t value the use of tools. Each situation is different and does not stay the same. Before you communicate you have to analyze it, including the context and key people.

Then define success.

Understand the context, your options and timing

Each situation may ask for a different tool, set of tools or a different use or timing of the tools. The main tool is speech. You master it when listening becomes hearing.Then you also know how to use the other written media. The other tool is drawing. You master it when looking becomes seeing. Then you also know how to use the other visual media.

Planning is key

The success of a strategy is not in the plan but in the planning. It is professional way of life. The principles of the way of the strategy, according to Musashi, are:

• Always be honest.
• Keep on practicing and learning.
• Become acquainted with every art.
• Know the mindset of all professions.
• In worldly affairs go for the result.
• Develop your intuitive judgment and understanding for every person or situation.
• Perceive things that cannot be seen.
• Pay attention to details.
• Do nothing which is of no use.

1. Xander says:

   11 August 2013 at 19:40  (Edit)

   For starters I can agree to the jest of the notes published. I do however feel that strategy is so much more than just providing the ultimate means of getting to a next position or level.

   And it being a skill to acquire. It does give the concept of strategy a different and more manageable feeling, however this focus on how to go about construing a strategy and not answer the question of “what a strategy?” really is.

   If one scours the web one tends to get a definition of strategy per person which sort of confirms that no one really sat down and worked through the angles to define what strategy is. WordWeb define is as “An elaborate and systematic plan of action” Which is as good as it gets but still come up short because “action” might not be a good tactic in a specific situation. Sitting, waiting might be better responses ( Although semantically it is still activities I would succumb to the more passive nature of these)

   That’s for now but I would suggest that one takes another route to actually defining strategy.

   Reply
   • Frits Hesselink says:

     12 August 2013 at 12:00  (Edit)

     Yes – in Western thinking we normally see a strategy as a plan. In business, project management – especially for conservation and sustainable development – this often leads to lengthy documents. I just read a ninety page communication strategy of a large international conservation organization for an international congress. I doubt whether many people will read it, let alone use it. That is why – when asked what is a strategy – I like to go back to the origins of the word and to the most famous treatises on strategy.

     Strategia in ancient Greek language literally means leadership of an army in war (stratos). Such leadership implies planning and taking decisions to define targets and allocate resources to attain and maintain a position of advantage over adversaries or to outright win the war (and conquer the enemy) in the most effective way. Strategy always deals with uncertainties and trying to get a decisive competetive advantage. In their strategic planning leaders often use scenarios and strategems to test various approaches to maximize one’s own security while trying to accomplish specific targets.

     The strategy of Xenophon – a vision and the principle of decentralisation of command. In the 4th century BC Xenophon’s leadership of the largely outnumbered and under-resourced Greek army of ten thousand mercenaries during its retreat from Persia to Greece was largely based on a clear and common shared goal (get safely back home together) and a decentralised command, which made it possible to realize quick and flexible solutions to any obstacle or surprise the army encountered. You can call that Xenophon’s strategy. And it worked as is illustrated in his ‘Anabasis’, his recollection of the experiences during the retreat of the Ten Thousand. Afterwards such strategies based on vision and principles were succesfully practiced, e.g. last century by General Giap during the Vietnam war.

     Strategy: principles, attitudes and skills to gain a competitive advantage
     Giap based himself on the writings of Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu was a Chinese general and philosopher who lived in the century before Xenophon. He wrote a treatise the ‘Art of War’, based on his experience during the ‘Warring States period’. Apart from analyzing the terrain and the opponent, the treatise also stresses and explains the skills and attitudes of a competent leader. In the 8th century AD the Art of War was introduced into Japan. It influenced the writings of Miyamoto Musashi, the famous samurai, who wrote his treatise on strategy – The Five Rings – in the 17th century. It is Musashi who I quote when describing the principles of strategy.

     Strategy as change leadership
     The closest a definition of strategy would come to this idea of principles and skillsets or ‘a way of life’ is maybe to define strategy as change leadership. Such definition also would recognize the fact that conservation and sustainable development in reality means dealing with change. And to realize change effectively you need the right leadership or strategy.

Education or communication?

If you want understanding - use education. If you want action use communication or campaigning.
Campaigning involves stimulating action, best achieved by narrowing the focus and eliminating distractions and reducing options, as in advertising (Figure 1). Typically, it starts (left column) with a problem and moves a target audience through the stages of awareness (and alignment, not shown here), concern and so on, to action.
Education expands awareness of options and complexity (right-hand column). It typically takes a problem and shows that it is not so simple as you may have first thought.
More on this in Proven top tips on communicating your issues effectively from one of the UK's most successful campaigners.... 

Dealing with uncertainty

We always come to the point that we have to make a choice. Hercules at the cross roads avoided the choice between just turning right or left. He expanded the set of choices and widened them. He reflected and checked his assumptions while analyzing his options. When making a choice: go for the one with the long term impact and benefits (Virtue), don’t get distracted with short term emotions (Pleasure). Then stick with your choice and prepare for having made the wrong choice. That is dealing with uncertainty. Read more in DECISIVE, the latest book of Chip and Dan Heath, study the painting by Sebastiano Ricci or learn from the life of Hercules.

What is strategy?

Strategy is not a plan to implement. Strategy is a three-fold skill set one learns along the road towards desired results. These skills one learns by practicing, contemplating and practicing, the way one masters an art.

The first skill is to unconditionally accept uncertainty on the road towards a desired result.

The second skill is to see the unique possibility that will help us gain a decisive advantage along the road towards the desired result.

The third skill is to timely exploit that unique possibility to gain this decisive advantage on the road towards the desired result.
See also the principles of the way of the strategy. 

Communication planning templates

There are different communication planning templates. What counts is not the plan but the planning. The templates are only a means to discipline our strategic thinking and avoid assumptions. We have to understand that planning is a circular process. After some stepts we may come to the conclusion that we are stuck and have to go back and redefine previous steps. Just filling in the boxes as we were made to do in an academic workshop may help our analytical thinking, but it does not result in a strategic plan. This became clear when we reached messages. We were instructed to think of making a power point presentation for a lecture. This had nothing to do anymore with the earlier formulated objectives (knowledge attitudes, behaviour) or issue e.g. change behaviour of fishermen. Too easily formulating the issue (like not defining the behaviour of fishermen and its context) is often the reason why one gets stuck in the planning cycle: make the problem small and concrete is the solution.

Communication as a tool for more effective mainstreaming

Planning communication aspects of a mainstreaming exercise can help to make the interventions more effective. After planning of what we want to change and how - we plan the communication. In the first exercise we should limit ourselves to the essence otherwise - because of too many trees we do not see the forest - and we cannot be strategic. The two planning templates show the first fuzzy attempt and the next stepo towareds clarity. The next step below shows what the results are for communication planning.

Instruments to change behaviour

A different way to present the stick, carrot and drums. The picture also illustrates that in the end it is about the instrument mix. Without communication a law will not work, as nobody would know about it. The same for the carrot. Only in some cases communication can work as a stand alone instrument, e.g. in the case of (1) an existing positive attitude or sufficient internal motivation of the audience, or (2) when adequate facilitating infrastructure is present or (3) when there is adequate social group pressure for the new behaviour. In most cases we need the right instrument mix.

Strategic communication

Communication is not strategic when it is end of pipe; when it starts with thinking about channels and media, and when it cannot answer questions what will it change and how do we measure success?

Commerce reduction or demand reduction

As long as there is demand and scarcity, illegal trade will continue...! This TV spot aims to help reducing the consumption of wild meat in the Ecudorian Amazon region. It is part of the IUCN/TRAFFIC project to explore - in a participatory way - the causes, contexts and alternatives for current illegal practices of hunting, trading and selling of wild meat. There are more radio and TV spots. Special videos for bus passengers on their way to the region. Certificates for restaurants that do not sell wild meat. There is a lot of investment in the supply side: capacity development of women and youth in indigenous communities, alternative livelihoods for families of hunters etc. As to the demand side it looks a bit meagre: I doubt whether the information of the videos will resonate with the consumers in the Amazon cities. It may with tourists. Behavior change of tourists might be a start for awareness raising in the cities. But more is needed to change behavior of the majority of the Amazon city (mestizo) folks. What are the motives for their preference for wild meat? What would be strategies for behavior change? The current appeal to their care for the environment may not work. What would be more 'cool' to eat? And how could we promote that? What could be the role of youth in spreading ideas and 'policing' parents and families? All major challenges for next steps in the project! Because as long as there is demand and scarcity, illegal trade will continue!

Audience first - Means later

What communicates climate change science best? WRI is researching which method works better: web cam talk, conversation or whiteboard talk. You can watch three scientists present the findings of their studies, using each time a different method, and then vote. The answers however may depend very much on the intended audience: other colleague climate scientists (web cam?); students and academics (whiteboard talk?); politicians or general public maybe none of these, as there is no clear message and action perspective. This all illustrates the need in communication to define the audience first, then the behaviour change we are after (inlcudng the obstacles to get there), then the message and only at that point in time the communication means!

To be able to communicate strategically behaviour of target groups should be described in very concrete and simple actions they take or can take. It is not helpful to describe the impact of current or desired behaviour, e.g. economic development in important breeding grounds. Current behaviour of decision makers has to be described in terms of agenda and priority setting, public statements, formulation of tasks for civil servants etc. The communication objectives are focused on those changes. Communication objectives are not the same as management objectives.

Communication strategy

One of the goals of the public awareness campaign Mother Sundarbans is to reduce the number of killings of stray tigers. The strategy has segmented the audiences. Young villagers are an important target audience. Based on my limited knowledge of the situation, I make the following assumptions about current and desired behavior behaviour and attitudes and dream up the first elements of a subcampaign directed towards young men: "Become a fan, friend or member of a local tiger team." Now the challenge is to be also more concrete about the other campaign goals (deer meat poaching and consumption) and other audiences audiences (women, youth, etc.).

Framing current and desired attitudes

When framing the attitudes we want to change we should put ourselves in the shoes of our audience. So we should go beyond defining the current attitude as a certain bird species is not important and the desired attitude as that bird species is a unique heritage and has a potential for tourism. We should really look into the psyche of the decision maker. This will help to better prepare our communication interventions to support change.

Framing Protected Areas: supply or demand?

Influencing politicians

Gasland is a consumer's campaign for a moratorium on new gaz drilling methods. My colleague Keith Wheeler just made me aware of this movie and campaign. Energy producing methods like fracking have a heavy polluting impact on water and air. Existing legislation in the US allows it. The campaign for a moratorium targets consumers. A website offers tools to inform politicians with arguments they care about: health and financial costs. A map shows drill sites and watersheds. Animation illustrates the impacts of fracking and invites you to click for elevator speech basic facts and figures. Postcard size stories show people telling their personal experiences in a few sound bites. Immediate action towards politicians is a button away. Screening the movie in your community is a means to create word of mouth. In short a perfect example of strategic communication.

Communication plan to establish a PA

The communication strategy is based on getting support through a participatory process. The assignment asks students to write a communication plan to get support to establish a protected area.
Before I read their assignments, I do the assignment myself. I realize the communication objectives are to inform opinion leaders about the idea of a dialogue, get them interested to participate and help create word of mouth based on the outcomes of the dialogue. My plan focuses on internal and external communication.
Internal communication to clarify:
1. What the initiators really want (elevator talk) - message to use externally
2. Degree of flexibility of initiators with regard to the idea of a PA
3. ToR of the stakeholder dialogue process
4. Available time of the other initiators to engage in dialogue
5. Budget for stakeholder dialogue process
6. Procedure for reporting and decision making based on stakeholder dialogue.
External communication to get support of local stakeholders:
1. Identification of stakeholder groups and their opinion leaders
2. Establishing relationships with opinion leaders and get a first idea from them about local situation and previous (communication) interventions; knowledge, attitudes and practices of local stakeholders; motives and obstacles to change.
3. Engagement in a stakeholder dialogue process: identification and invitation of participants; planning and facilitation of the process; prioritization and objectives of communication interventions to wider audiences.
4. Creating supportive word of mouth: implementing communication interventions to wider audiences; monitoring and evaluation; positive feedback to opinion leaders and wider audiences.

Lionfish PSA

Fun as basis to effectively communicate invasive species. To learn more visit the website. A Randy Olsen film. See also the interview in the NYT.

SOS - Save Our Species - join now!

Save our species. Not a very effective advertizement for a website. And food for thought from the perspective of branding biodiversity: Love. Not Loss! Food for tought also from the perspective of strategic communication: who is the audience and what KAP change is intended? See also the brochure.

Science, disinformation and ethics

"Environmental scepticism is an elite-driven reaction to global environmentalism, organised by core actors within the conservative movement." A recent study from the University of Central Florida shows that over 92 per cent of environmentally sceptical publications are linked to conservative think tanks, and 90 per cent of conservative think tanks interested in environmental issues espouse scepticism. This scepticism is a key tactic to undermine the environmental movement’s efforts to legitimise its claims via science. The sceptics are not unbiased analysts of science who expose the myths and scare messages of the environmentalists, whom they label as practitioners of ‘junk science’. They are not - as they claim - marginal voices who battle like ‘Davids’ against the powerful ‘Goliath’ of the environmental scientists. These sceptics are supported by politically powerful think tanks funded by wealthy foundations and corporations. In another recent publication of Penn State University Donald Brown asks himself whether the disinformation of sceptics can be labeled as a new kind of crime against humanity. Given the results of the climate change and biodiversity negotiations one could at least say that the communication tactics of the sceptics to influence decision makers and the public seem to work better than the communication strategy of the environmentalists.