Top >> Business_Marketing PR in Practice: How Sensis uses communication to drive and protect brand and reputation published September - October 2005 Sensis, arguably Australia’s best known advertising, information and directories brand, touches a huge number of Australians.  Here we talk with Felicity Hand, General Manager of Corporate Affairs for Sensis, who outlines current drivers for communication initiatives and shares some best practice gleaned from recent Sensis communications strategies. What are Sensis’ current drivers in relation to corporate communication? Sensis has enjoyed a strong rise in interest and coverage over the past twelve months and this will increase as we grow. We are a fast moving business and we regularly announce new initiatives. Our focus is on promoting and protecting our brand and reputation. We do this by working with our stakeholders to build awareness, understanding, engagement and, ultimately, advocacy. We place a great deal of emphasis on using innovation to improve our ability to communicate with and support our stakeholders. This has lead to initiatives such as the Bread™ Small Business TV show (screening on Sunday mornings and Thursday nights on Network Ten), the associated Bread™ web site and a growing focus on using technology as a communication tool. We are also working to build a greater understanding of the diverse needs of our stakeholders through a focus on deeper segmentation These initiatives are improving our ability to manage stronger ‘end to end’ relationships with our stakeholders by engaging them at a more grass-roots level. Can you tell us what the main challenges on your horizon are at the moment? As Sensis continues to innovate by creating new search products and by exploring new channels such as wireless, we, as a Corporate Affairs team, need to not only build awareness but also help both consumers and business understand how they can most effectively use our products to add value to their businesses and their lives. For that reason, we are sharpening our commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the community, and we have some significant plans in place to achieve this. What has been your most valued communication success story of the last year? Sensis launched two new products, the search engine sensis.com.au and the Sensis® 1234 tele-search service, just over twelve months ago.  By developing an integrated communications campaign using a wide range of marketing activities, from television advertisements to footpath chalking, and a strong supporting public relations function, both services are well-known, widely used and differentiated from competitors’ products by their local search content.    Another vital achievement has been with our people, although what we have achieved has taken longer than a year. We have worked with HR to apply a dedicated focus to listening to our people, acting on their views and positively engaging them in the business. This has included running annual discussion groups - a massive undertaking where every Sensis employee has the opportunity to participate in a small group, frank discussion for three hours with a member of our Executive Leadership Team. It has also included ongoing forums to communicate and discuss our strategy and values, programs aimed at equipping our leaders to better communicate our business to their teams and the provision of the Sensis People Commitment - a range of people engagement initiatives designed to help our people ‘Say, Stay and Strive’. The impact of our commitment has been a 60% drop in employee turnover in just two years and employee opinion scores that are now well above all Australian benchmarks. What are you currently focusing upon? One key initiative is our growing focus on the consumer. Over the last two years, our corporate reputation has grown strongly among some stakeholders, but we have some work to do among other stakeholder groups who have had less contact with us in the past. We are working to better segment and understand all our stakeholders - particularly those in the consumer space - so that we can use that deeper understanding as the platform for stronger engagement programs. Can you share one best practice tip for the purpose of this interview? Always put your people first - I can’t stress this enough. This phrase is so well worn that it now risks becoming clichéd. At the same time it is absolutely true and vital to any business. In the end, your corporate reputation is created not only from your brand and the promises you make as a business but on how well you deliver on those promises. To achieve the latter, your people must be engaged and capable of delivering. Sensis is a company that has undergone a very significant and successful program of change over the last 4 - 5 years. This would have been impossible to achieve without a total commitment to our people. Keep your company’s staff informed of what the business is trying to achieve, involve them in the decision making process, and your staff will feel that they are making a valuable contribution to the business -  the results will follow. To hear more from Sensis, and other leading organisations in the communications field, such as Westpac NZ and Vodafone, attend Ark Group’s ‘Strategic Corporate Communication’ event taking place in Sydney on the 21-23 September. For more information simply contact Ben Farnsworth on +61 1300 550 662 or email info@arkgroupasia.com

PR Influences Australian Public Relations Newsletter. Article: PR Tips: Communication drives brand & protects reputation. Information Content: Marketing, Reputation & Research