As part of the Climate Action Policy in Ireland, each year the Department for Environment, Climate and Communications is required to go out and speak with members of the public from all walks of life to understand their views on climate change.

H/Advisors Cicero was appointed to support in the end-to-end delivery of the project across a nine-month period. Ultimately, the Climate Conversations are designed to act as a feedback loop between the public and the Government to inform better, targeted policy that will drive climate action. Key to our commitment in achieving this was speaking to as many varied voices as possible on climate change from across all populations in Ireland.

Strategy & Execution

Delivering the Climate Conversations is a multifaceted project, which involved designing a research approach that could pull together the multiple strands of both qualitative and quantitative research to produce one summary report with clear policy recommendations. As such, H/Advisors Cicero was responsible for producing a literature review, to summarise the current best practice on driving behaviour change around climate change.

Based on the findings of the literature review, we drafted an online public consultation, recruited and moderated 10 focus groups with hard-to-reach audiences from across Ireland (including farmers, remote island communities and the travelling community) and engaged with all PPN groups from across Ireland. We also conducted a series of in-depth interviews with expert stakeholders to identify areas of best practice and community-based learnings.

The Climate Conversations were an opportunity to show how H/Advisors Cicero can work with public sector clients to deliver national campaigns and research initiatives. The scope of the research encouraged us to engage with members of the public from across Ireland, to make sure all voices and viewpoints were heard and represented. Being able to present the recommendations to the Minister in Ireland to inform strategy is a fantastic way we’ve been able to deliver meaningful change to drive forward the sustainability agenda in Ireland

Aideen Ginnell, Eu Director

Result

Following four months of active outreach and engagement with members of the public across Ireland, we wrote up the key findings into the 2022 Climate Conversations Report.

In particular, we developed thinking further on the importance of climate literacy as a topic that influences drivers of behaviour change around taking climate action. We also identified where and who the public saw as responsible for delivering on climate action and at what level across individuals, communities and the government.

A summary of the key findings from the Climate Conversations were presented in working groups to over 100 members of the Civil Service, to actively inform the drafting of the Climate Action Plan 2023.

If you wish to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this article, please contact Aideen in H/Advisors Cicero’s Dublin team on aideen.ginnell@h-advisors.global

Brief

Novartis asked H/Advisors Cicero to develop an opportunities manual, outlining how to support patient engagement with UK health systems and policy development in Westminster and the devolved administrations. 

Strategy & Execution

H/Advisors Cicero completed in-depth research on NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Scottish Medicines Consortium and the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group and analysed how embedded patient engagement was in these organisations’ processes.

Alongside this, H/Advisors Cicero analysed the policy environment for each of Novartis’ therapeutic areas of focus (including CVD, neuroscience, immunology and oncology), creating recommendations on where and how Novartis’ patient organisation partners could influence policy.

Results

H/Advisors Cicero created a patient engagement opportunities manual for Novartis, a resource that will guide the organisation’s patient engagement activity, and enable Novartis to better support patient group partners. The opportunities handbook will also be used by their global team to help with an international review of their approach to patient engagement. ​

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If you wish to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this case study, please contact Emma in H/Advisors Cicero’s Health team on emma.turnbull@h-advisors.global.

Self care is an emerging healthcare theme globally, enabling patients and consumers to play a more active role in managing their own health. Reckitt wanted to understand from a policy and regulatory perspective how advanced the policy is and in which markets to focus resource. H/Advisors Cicero was instructed to undertake an independent review of the self care landscape in five key markets, and present to Reckitt a Self Care Strategy and next steps for implementation.

Strategy & Execution

Across five tier-one markets, UK, US, France, Germany and Australia, we conducted desk research to collect information available on self care policy in each market. This included using Government and regulatory websites, trade association groups for consumer health, and academic sources to compile reports on each market. We established both how well-understood self care was as a term in the market, and which other issues it was most likely to be associated with. We also identified any live policy debates or legislation that specifically referenced self care.

Having completed the desk research, we utilised relevant political contacts to assess their understanding of self care. We also interviewed the Reckitt country leads in each market to understand how familiar they were with self care as a term and to compare this with our research findings, identifying potential gaps or hooks which could be used to drive the self care debate within that market.

Reducing the burden of care on healthcare workers is a top priority across all developed markets. Self care is a key part of that strategy, increasing the role that consumer and Over The Counter (OTC) medicine can play in the wider healthcare system, and enabling the public to become more informed about how to reach their own decisions regarding their own health, and which services are most appropriate to be contacted.

Sarah Bosworth, Account Director

Results

Our work concluded with the presentation of a global public affairs strategy to Reckitt on self care. We provided Reckitt with detailed insight into each market, including political appetite for self care, and mapping of key political stakeholders, as well as the toolkit needed for country-level activation.

For the UK market, where we found that self care was most advanced as a policy, we made suggestions for two potential campaigns that could be launched by the public affairs team, and how they would align with the wider healthcare policy agenda.

If you wish to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this article, please contact Sarah in H/Advisors Cicero’s Research team on sarah.bosworth@h-advisors.global

Brief

H/Advisors Cicero was tasked with helping Energy Networks Association (ENA), the UK’s energy network trade body, to understand the key issues and challenges for the energy networks among their key external audiences. This included relevant senior decision makers and thought leaders across politics, regulators, think tanks and academics as well as consumer groups.. H/Advisors Cicero were tasked with engaging relevant individuals across these groups to glean insights into their perspective on pressing topics and foreseen challenges for the networks.

Strategy & Execution

H/Advisors Cicero identified a core stakeholder list amongst the key audiences and designed a discussion guide in collaboration with the ENA, ensuring we were targeting the right audiences with the right questions.

H/Advisors Cicero leveraged our reputation as a heavyweight strategic communications agency to engage with these hard-to-reach audiences, as many relevant candidates were already present in the H/Advisors networks or aware of the quality of the research we undertake. We embarked on a series of 30 in-depth interviews in Spring 2021, with conversations lasting up to an hour, across wider stakeholders. The conversations were tailored to the individual’s area of interest in order to maximise the level of insight garnered from each conversation.

Putting the interests of the networks first, and not assuming they hold a complete understanding of the wider stakeholder universe their members wish to engage, the Energy Network Association spent their time really understanding their members’ stakeholders. We collaborated on every step, allowing our research knowledge to marry with ENA’s industry knowledge to create harmonious outputs that provided actionable insight for their members. To hear that members have directly integrated the findings into their communications and wider corporate approach is what our research team wishes to achieve across every project.

Andrew Roberts, Chief Creative Officer

Results

H/Advisors Cicero produced a report based on the insight gathered from these conversations to share with its membership. This covered the key challenges the sector faces, the political and regulatory requirements to overcome them and the preferred forms of engagement tactics from the Networks to reach external stakeholders going forward.

The insight report informed the ENA’s membership on how to improve communications across the Networks, particularly given the growing interest by external audiences in the energy sector as a whole. Their membership applauded the publications of the findings, noting that it served as a framework within which they could develop their own communications and wider corporate approaches.

If you wish to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this article, please contact Andrew in H/Advisors Cicero’s Campaigns team on andrew.roberts@h-advisors.global

Global infrastructure firm AECOM places a huge emphasis on holding its position as an industry thought leader across sustainable building in Ireland and across the world. For the past four years H/Advisors Cicero has been supporting AECOM to ensure this focus is conveyed through the relevant media and engages all relevant business and political stakeholders. Our brief also includes devising and executing an annual media campaign to promote the publication of AECOM’s review of the construction industry for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Strategy & Execution

Our strategic corporate communications plan supports AECOM in identifying key messages and news hooks contained within the insights delivered via their annual report. We then package our messaging into detailed and engaging stories that fuel a media campaign across broadcast, print and online media across the island of Ireland.

We hone the content across relevant themes important to government, business, and society in general including projected growth for the constructions sector, indicative price increases and the impact of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our support involves briefing key business journalists on the work AECOM is doing and the significance of the annual forecasts. We also provide media training and detailed briefings to key senior AECOM spokespeople ahead of all media engagements. AECOM launches the annual report each year at an event in Dublin and one in Belfast which we manage for them bringing together all relevant stakeholders to discuss the content of the review.

Over the four years we have supported AECOM in delivering awareness around all that they do to promote and instil the values behind sustainable construction practices, we have seen a marked acceleration in the topics relevance but also competition for the thought leadership position. I believe it’s the authentic and determined ambitions of both AECOM and H/Advisors Cicero that result in continually higher coverage and engagement across top tier media, policymakers and wider industry stakeholders

Susan Keogh, Director Irish Corporate Communications

Results

Every year, our support results in extensive media coverage of AECOM’s annual report along with large numbers of industry stakeholders attending the launch events in Dublin and Belfast. We have placed AECOM across all Tier 1 outlets across the island of Ireland including key interviews on RTE’s Morning Ireland, RTE’s One O’clock Television News, Newstalk’s Breakfast Business, BBC News and UTV News. The report is also traditionally covered by all major press outlets including the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Irish Examiner and Belfast Telegraph along with all construction trade publications. As a result AECOM remains the go-to voice on sustainable construction and infrastructure.

If you wish to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this article, please contact Susan in H/Advisors Cicero’s Dublin team on susan.keogh@h-advisors.global

H/Advisors Cicero has been the retained public affairs agency for the Health Food Manufacturers’ Association (HFMA) since 2014. Since that time, we have undertaken various public affairs requests including supporting UK and EU campaigns, developed PA strategy, provided up-to-date monitoring and analysis for key internal stakeholders, all with the objective of creating a favourable legislative landscape for the health food industry.

Strategy & Execution

At a strategic level, we worked with the leadership of the HFMA to help drive understanding and awareness amongst EU policymakers of the important role health food products play in the broader public health debate. We also advocated for changes to the Food Supplements Directive to ensure the EU-wide levels set for the specific list of vitamins and minerals was equal to and not below the standard already in place in the UK.

H/Advisors Cicero engaged with EU stakeholders to build HFMA’s presence among the EU institutions – an initial priority was to build allies for HFMA in all three. On the campaign, we directly engaged with the European Commission DG for Health and Food, and scientific committee on health (sub group of EC), and EU Food Safety Authority (FSA). We drafted position papers, amendments, statements, and clarifications, in addition to making technical issues digestible to politicians EU-wide, from the ENVI committee in the European Parliament.

We also provide ongoing day-to-day support for HFMA across their public affairs monitoring, key legislative and regulatory analysis and provide senior counsel sessions throughout the year to hone in on particularly pertinent activities or events.

Having worked for HFMA for several years, day-to-day operations of the account are seamless. Our greatest shared achievements have resulted from intelligently designed and executed campaigns. Leveraging HFMAs deep sectoral knowledge alongside H/Advisors Cicero’s far-reaching networks and campaign toolkit to achieve meaningful change for a vibrant and positive industry.

Simon Fitzpatrick, Head of Public Affairs

Results

We continue to provide HFMA’s public affairs team with a full service public affairs toolkit. A standout moment in our engagement was designing and executing a campaign that advocated for changes to the Food Supplements Directive to ensure the EU levels set for vitamins and minerals was equal to the standard already in place in the UK. This, in turn, increased the benchmark requirement across the EU for all member states. The win commercially meant HFMA members were able to sell more products across the EU.

If you wish to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this article, please contact Simon in H/Advisors Cicero’s Public Affairs team on simon.fitzpatrick@h-advisors.global