Cast from Clay

Thank you to the wonderful Cast from Clay team and to all our amazing clients who trust us, challenge us and experiment with us. This year has been fun! Tom, Catarina, Aneesha, Jamie, Johnny, Seb, Joshua, Keith, Marie, Emma, Guy, Nicholas, Volodymyr, Oleh, Nazar 👏

Check out this piece from our client Rowan Emslie, CCO at Centre for Future Generations (CFG), with his reflections on the importance of brand in policy communications and our work together. His top four lessons: 1️⃣ Get your brief right. 2️⃣ Involve the team. 3️⃣ Set ambitious targets. 4️⃣ Focus on voice and values, then let the visuals spring from there. https://lnkd.in/dEjN6m_H

Reforming how government works is top of mind in both the US and the UK right now. Read Ed Leech's Policy Unstuck interview to hear his thoughts on what needs to change, and why the Elon Musk approach of deleting entire departments is not the one. Ed also gives the download on why: 👉 Meaningless meetings with political advisers damages your influence. 👉 Transactional meetings are refreshingly good. 👉 Prioritising meetings with officials works over the long-term. https://lnkd.in/e2PPvYVd

If it's good enough for Enrique Mendizabal.... Join Enrique and 2,000+ other policy professionals who receive Policy Unstuck each week: https://lnkd.in/exgu-UjU And check out the rest of his "20 things to watch and learn from" https://lnkd.in/e3H7euwi

We really enjoyed working with the team at the Centre for Future Generations (CFG) on their brand strategy, visual identity, brand voice, and website. It was especially cool to see it brought to life at their flagship event (kudos Phoebe, Brett, Habib) this week in Brussels. Thanks for having us Laurens, Rowan, Philipp & Phoebe - and congrats on the successful launch.

The value of journalists in policy communications is not what they write. Check out former 10 Downing Street adviser Beatrice T.'s Policy Unstuck interview with Tom Hashemi to find out why. https://lnkd.in/ehdDNZ2a

This is probably the most exciting rebrand we've done this year. That taught me a bunch about emerging tech, inspired to read Philip K. Dick and turn Tarkovsky into a style, and realise the importance of a good brand voice in complex comms. Welcome to the coolest think tank in town. And huge thanks to Rowan, Laurens, Phoebe, Philipp, and the CFG team for such a fun and creative journey.

On a weekly-ish basis, the Policy Unstuck newsletter goes out to over 2,000 policy professionals, giving them tangible insight into the policymaking process and how to influence it. We interview politicians, political advisers, and leaders in the space to understand how they think about policy communications, what people get wrong, and how to be more effective. Want to join them? https://lnkd.in/exgu-UjU

Last week, our Lead Consultant and Head of Public Affairs, Johnny Luk, was invited to participate in a webinar as a guest speaker with Stephen Waddington, who recently wrote a report about measuring the impact and value of public affairs, hosted by DeHavilland. Johnny had contributed to Stephen’s research on the report (click here - https://buff.ly/3D6KmPr) and drew from his and his colleagues' experience at Cast from Clay, as well as from the civil service, industry, and politics. The conversations extended to wider practical takeaways on how best to support clients, including: 1️⃣ Measuring progress realistically – Clients tend to focus – rightly – on outcomes. The nature of public affairs is that outcomes can be hard to control. Many external factors can impact outcomes, such as those for legislative programmes. PA consultancies should be clear on what they can control – mainly the inputs – and show how that relates to outputs and how outputs increase the odds of improving outcomes. This should be done transparently and early to give clients a realistic picture of the possibilities. This is a key part of gaining client trust. 2️⃣ Not all outputs are equal – Many traditional measurements can be useful, for example, the number of attendees at a launch event, the frequency of citations in Hansard, or key meetings held. However, this alone may not tell the full story, and success should be gauged by the quality and impact of the engagement, not just the numbers. The consultant's role is to help explain this and focus efforts on activities that give the most impact, rather than just ticking lots of boxes. 3️⃣ Collaboratively establish what is true internally and externally – You can’t measure progress without knowing how the client’s brand and activities are perceived from the start of an engagement. This involves speaking with key stakeholders involved with the client, as well as conducting internal questionnaires. Is there clear alignment within the organisation on what they do? This process helps get everyone on the same page, including those outside of the direct PA function and builds more support internally for a campaign. You can read the full blog - with more practical takeaways here 👉 https://buff.ly/4gi1QXG At Cast from Clay, we are always looking to push the boundaries of policy communications. We would love to hear your insights too on how to better improve policy comms, and please come to us if we can be of help or if you need further insights 😊

On a weekly-ish basis, the Policy, Unstuck newsletter goes out to over 2,000 policy communications professionals, giving them tangible insight into the policymaking process and how to influence it. We interview politicians, political advisers, and leaders in the space to understand how they think about policy communications, what people get wrong, and how to be more effective. Want to join them? https://lnkd.in/e7Epn8Vw