We were recently involved in a stakeholder relations campaign to help overturn local government plans to build a Truck Depot under a park overlooking Bondi Beach.
Social Media emerged as one of the most powerful communications tools in an integrated campaign that spanned letter box drops, Web, photo shoots at the site, media relations, lobbying, advertising and events.
The creation of a Facebook group where opponents could register their concerns and engage directly with Councillors (who participated in the group), attracted more than 2,600 members across the festive period when many locals were on holidays.
From a PR perspective, it meant we had a clearly defined database of engaged members from a range of target audiences and we could communicate with them quickly and affordably as the campaign progressed.
For example, wording for objection emails was distributed to the group with instructions on how to lodge a complaint ‘ccing organisers. This resulted more than 300 objections to council within three hours, and they continued for days.
Similarly, within three days of sending an invitation to attend a protest rally, we had more than 500 RSVPs and growing.
Social media was even used by the Mayor to announce her decision to withdraw the proposal. This meant organisers could cancel the protest rally – again, a quick, easy task via Facebook.
In a blog post, Waverley Council Mayor, Sally Betts said, “I was originally reticent about announcing my decision before the public exhibition period closed on Friday 19 February. However, the depth of community angst and concern has become increasingly clear. It would be irresponsible to not publicise my decision about this proposal as I believe the community deserves to know now, rather than later.
“Congratulations to the Hugh Bamford Reserve Protection Group for such a professional and well coordinated campaign, it’s the best I’ve seen in my 12 years as a Councillor, and it’s a sign of true democracy at work,” she said.
