When I began initial discussions with Depaul Ireland, circumstance and timing combined, leading to a project that was both challenging and inspiring. The scope of the project required multiple skillsets, and I was delighted to call on my friends at Etch Communications to come aboard. Together with Depaul’s in-house team, we ran a cracker of a campaign, which led to our commendation at the 2022 Awards for Excellence in Public Relations.
In an exceptionally challenging environment, Depaul is an approved housing body, and a leading provider of services for people experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness across the island of Ireland. In September 2020, Depaul and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVP) reached an agreement for Depaul to take over the management of seven SVP homeless services around Ireland. The move means that Depaul now manages over 35 specialised accommodation services.
With this substantial growth, and the complicated landscape surrounding the provision of housing and homeless services, our support to Depaul was of a root-and-branch strategic nature. There was a substantial public affairs element and stakeholder management went from local authorities and volunteers through to government departments and state agencies.
With heavy media scrutiny of homeless service providers, and stricter regulations, Depaul stands out as an exemplar of professionalism, high standards and empathy. It was imperative that we brought this to the fore in reputation and media management. We ran a comprehensive stakeholder mapping and strategic messaging processes to enhance Depaul’s strengths and mitigate risks.
Given the similarity in names between Depaul and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and their historical linkages, we worked on distinguish their brand identities. We did this by working with both organisations to establish a clear narrative surrounding the transfer, which reflected their respective contributions and helped educate stakeholders and the wider public. From here, we worked in a highly focused fashion to hone the messaging from every angle, running a series of workshops and training sessions to prepare for both media and stakeholder communications.
It all culminated in a transfer event held in Deerpark House in Cork in January, which was officiated by the Taoiseach Micheál Martin. The public affairs and media relations elements worked in complete synchrony during the approach and aftermath of this event. The Taoiseach’s press office and advisers were on speed dial throughout this process and were unfailingly generous and courteous in their correspondence with us.
At the same time, the media relations process kicked into gear, with media training of key spokespersons, developing materials and preparing photography and videography briefings, and coordination with journalists. The coverage was superb, achieving a total reach of 3,421,701 across 28 pieces of print, broadcast and online media.
Depaul CEO David Carroll loves sporting analogies so in his honour I will describe our collective working relationship like a Gaelic football team. My role was akin a defender in the 2010s. It’s not pretty; it requires a lot of preparation, but it provides an important structure for what happens further out the field. The Depaul team were our midfield, keeping everything moving in the right direction. Laura and Andrea at Etch are your classic marquee forwards, kicking over points for fun and bringing to fruition the results of all our labour. It was a wonderful project.
To donate to Depaul Ireland, go to: https://ie.depaulcharity.org/donate/.
Comments