Currie Communications

Currie’s General Manager Susan McNair provided insights into how best to communicate with primary producers at a national conference of Australia’s leading climate change scientists in Melbourne today. 

Her audience is part of the state and federal government’s partnership which is developing the climate change research strategy for primary industries (CCRSPI). They recognise Australian primary producers play a critical role in implementing their work so they wanted to hear from an expert about getting their messages heard and acted upon.

Susan noted the climate change debate had become confusing and fragmented for primary producers.  “Almost every research organisation is talking about it. But the practical implications and possibilities are not clear,” she said.

In making her case she cited producer attitudes and first-hand examples of national environment-based communication programs Currie has managed on behalf of the wool, farming and grazing sectors.

“Science communicators face an enormous challenge with farmers,” she said.

“Mention the words ‘climate change’ to the average farmer and from many you see immediate scepticism. Current research indicates that only 28% of farmers believe human activity is the cause of climate change. Yet on the other hand, nearly three-quarters of farmers feel the industry has already adapted significantly to climate change challenges.”

Change is not new to Australian primary producers, she said.

Susan went on to explain the best way to convince farmers to take-up mitigation and adaption practices is to link them to farmer’s particular drivers – pride,  profit and productivity.

“Communications must appeal to these. Your messages must appeal to these,” she explained.

To view Susan’s presentation click, CCRSPI_presentation

Victoria’s Water Minister Peter Walsh announced the state’s Ombudsman would investigate the implementation of northern Victorian water savings projects, at a Rural Press Club of Victoria (RPCV) breakfast today.

More than 140 people attended the breakfast, organised by Currie as Honorary Secretary of the RPCV, and heard Minister Walsh discuss his priorities for the coming year.

Minister Walsh, who is also Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, confirmed the Coalition Government would honour its commitment to investigate the projects – including the Food Bowl Modernisation Project.

“With the majority of the project yet to be delivered, I believe it is prudent to put the concerns about these projects behind us and determine what can be done to improve their future delivery,” he said.

Unions have since expressed concern about the investigation, one union representative calling it a “witch hunt”.

Minister Walsh’s address can be viewed here. More coverage of the event can be found in the Weekly Times and the Stock & Land

Currie has this week appointed advertising executive David Dickeson to its team.

David’s appointment enables Currie to broaden its offering to include full advertising services such as design, placement strategy, media buying and production.

Over the last four to five years, clients have become more aware of the convergence of public relations and advertising, driven largely by the development of online communications that often blurs the two disciplines, according to Currie’s Managing Director Mark Paterson.

“The addition of David’s skills, experience and networks to the Currie team significantly increases the scope of our service offering,” says Mark.

Born on an apple and pear orchard in Victoria, David has his roots in the agricultural sector. After receiving a degree in advertising from RMIT, David built a successful career in advertising with a focus on the rural and pharmaceutical industries. His clients have included Bayer, GlaskoSmithKline, CSL and Incitec Pivot.

Incitec Pivot was also a client of Currie, and it was here that David began his long association with Currie’s founder and Chairman Derek Jones, and with Mark Paterson.

Among David’s career highlights is the coordination of a national campaign for CSL to drive increased vaccination against Q-Fever among people working with livestock.

The integrated campaign involved high profile spokesperson, Tim Fischer; in-store promotions at rural suppliers and rural GP clinics; television commercials; and print advertising. The campaign target was administration of 30,000 doses of Q-Fever vaccine.  By the end of the campaign, this target was well exceeded with a total of 80,000 doses administered across Australia.

“It was incredibly satisfying to work on a campaign with such tangible health benefits for rural Australians,” says David.

His pride and joy is a green 1950 XK120 Jaguar convertible. David also enjoys collecting the visual arts, travel and cooking Italian food – a great addition to the team.

A media relations campaign that puts Currie in the festive spirit each year is Australia Post’s Christmas activity. Today is the “busiest day” for mail during the campaign. 

The Santa Mail campaign appeals to families and school-aged children through the mainstream media. It’s a fun, light-hearted and it always manages to cut-through the clutter.

In a world of bad news, newsrooms and journalists chuckle when we ring them with our annual insights from Santa and explain the best way to get a letter to the man at the North Pole.

And it’s always a fabulous picture opportunity.

This year various hard-working posties took Santa in their red trucks to state schools to collect letters from excited school children.

Despite Facebook and Twitter refashioning the way we live, there is one thing that remains constant: Santa prefers a personal, handwritten letter to a poke or a tweet.

Currie’s specialist in public affairs, Craig Little, is airing his inimitable insight into the murky, yet beautifully-presented world of state politics in a weekly radio segment on 774 ABC Melbourne.

Joined by host Lindy Burns and former editor of both of Melbourne’s daily papers, Bruce Guthrie, Craig has been involved in discussions ranging from the various tactics used to control the media cycle; the use of YouTube; all the way to the shock tactics used by the minor parties (such as the Sex Party’s use of the director of a banned ‘zombie p*rn’ film) and back again.

Craig, who cut his radio teeth on RRR’s The Spin, has raised issues such as how peripheral policy issues can change the direction and momentum of a campaign; the increased cynicism of the electorate towards media tactics; and how political media advisors should rely less on focus groups and more spend more time on Main Street.

Working alongside Bruce Guthrie has provided Craig with a unique insight into the machinations of Melbourne’s media and generated interesting discussions on the future shape of media in our city as the move to digital becomes seemingly irresistible.

The segment (4.30pm on Wednesday afternoons) has developed a large and interested audience who often call the studio to raise a question on the various media tactics employed by Victoria’s political parties

The half-hour of lively conversation provides listeners with a glimpse of Currie’s understanding of the role of media in the art of persuasion.

The global footprint of independent Australian public relations firm Currie Communications now covers Moscow and India.

The largest privately-owned public relations company in Russia, CROS http://www.cros.ru/en/, and one of India’s leading agencies, Perfect Relations http://www.perfectrelations.com/, join Currie’s international network, the Public Relations Global Network (PRGN), following a meeting of members in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, last week.

“We are thrilled to welcome Perfect and CROS to PRGN,” said Currie’s Managing Director, Mark Paterson, who attended the meeting. “The PRGN has experienced tremendous growth and the addition of these members provides additional strategic resources for our members’ clients.”

Currie is the Australian affiliate of the PRGN, a network of more than 40 owner-operated agencies on six continents, with 800 people, 50 offices and revenues in excess of $US100 million.

Founded in 1992, PRGN has a presence in 24 of the world’s top 30 GDP-ranked countries.

The media spotlight in Australia landed on anti-whaling when Currie generated prominent coverage for the International Foundation for Animal Welfare (IFAW) last week.

The cornerstone of the media outreach was the ‘mock slaughter’ of a whale, a high-tech stunt orchestrated by advertising agency JWT at Darling Harbour in Sydney.

The stunt used aqua screen technology to mimic the blow and the bloody effects of a whale being harpooned. Whale sounds were pumped out across the promenade to build great effect.

The stunt was staged on the eve of International Anti-Whaling Day (November 5), which occurs on the first day of Japan’s whaling season in the southern oceans.

Currie packaged the stunt in our media alert and interaction with journalists. This strategy coupled with spokesperson, Patrick Ramage, IFAW’s whale program director, attracted significant media interest nationally with stories running across all News Limited and Fairfax Media breaking news websites and numerous radio outlets, including ABC’s World Today. The World Today

Although commercial whaling has been banned for more than two decades, IFAW expects this season alone Japan may kill as many as 935 minke whales, 50 fin whales and 50 humpback whales in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, an area set aside by the International Whaling Commission in 1994.

To view the stunt, click here Anti-Whaling stunt

A story about the Global Change Institute’s Food Security Summit that spoke to the nation’s hip pocket led to media coverage that reached a potential 90% of Australians.

The Summit began with a public forum in Brisbane and focussed on the question of how the world can grow enough food for a burgeoning global population, set to pass 9 billion by 2050.

A well-crafted radio release, timed to hit 6am radio news bulletins (and set the day’s news agenda), together with a targeted print release highlighted the prospect of rising grocery prices.

The coverage was bolstered by newsrooms’ current interest in food supply, heightened due a meeting of the UN on poverty issues in New York one week earlier which led to headlines across the world relating to the problem of hunger and inequitable food distribution.

Leading global business consultant Carolyn Taylor – a pioneer in corporate culture and leadership – has returned to Australia, with a timely warning for corporate leaders Corporate Australia \'must change culture\'.

“Poorly-managed culture is an accident waiting to happen,” says Carolyn. “Look at what happened at Toyota, Goldman Sachs and Enron. They allowed other drivers to come ahead of values and standards and it cost them dearly.”

During this visit Carolyn, Walking the Talk, is working with Vodafone Hutchison, Alcatel Lucent, Water Corporation in WA and BHP Billiton, assisting them to build their internal expertise for managing culture.

“It’s clear to me from those I have talked to here that Australia’s emerging corporate leaders are excited about, and ready for, a paradigm shift in the way they manage their culture,” Carolyn says.

Dairy farmer confidence is on the rise, with 73% of farmers surveyed in August feeling positive about the future of the industry, the latest Dairy Australia Situation and Outlook report has found.

This was up from 67% in February.

The report provided a summary of industry conditions, projections and dairy farmer feedback, the report found that farmer confidence was higher in Victoria and South Australia, two states that have experienced excellent winter rainfall.

In the Murray Dairy region alone, there was a 30% rise in positivity, following rain, a subsequent increase in water allocation and better farmgate prices.

A radio release with audio grabs from Jo Bills, Dairy Australia’s Manager Strategy and Knowledge, generated excellent media coverage, with more than 20 newsrooms across Australia downloading the grab and up to 130 stations broadcasting the release.

For further report findings, go to:

http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/Our-Dairy-Industry/Dairy-Situation-and-Outlook.aspx