We’re specialists in understanding how cities talk to their citizens – and vice versa.
With extensive media management and engagement experience, Strategic Cities was established in 2015 to provide advice for cities and organisations delivering urban change.
Contact us to discuss how we can help you.
We’ve trained hundreds of people around the world, including local and national government employees, media teams, delivery managers, developers, transport planners, campaigns officers and politicians.
“Mark’s list of tips for achieving change – in particular, identifying friendly journalists and proactively engaging with the media to expand the appeal of controversial projects – really resonated with me,”
“Realising that the media are looking for a story to tell – and that we can be the source for that story – is pretty empowering.”
A Strategic Cities client, New Zealand
Our workshops equip teams who work on challenging projects which provoke a reaction.
Training can include hostile media management, engagement and discourse strategies, and practical skills shaped to meet your needs.
We take a participatory approach, using real-world examples to encourage teams to take ownership of the narrative about their work.
Our services include:
- Keynote speaker Facing a challenging project and need inspiration? Let us present to your conference, client or team.
- Workshops and professional development; rapidly upskill your project staff as you prepare for a challenging project. From “managing the conversation about change”, to practical skills for anyone facing hostile community and media sentiment.
- Engagement strategy advice; help with engagement planning, and reviews of existing engagement plans. Stakeholder mapping and risk management.
- Media and communications planning; project branding, creating a narrative plan and anticipating likely media reactions.
- Media content creation; preparing media material and social content.
- Perception crisis management; manage critical negative moments, including combating negative headlines and public opinions.
- Consultation and embedded support; additional resource on an as-needed basis.
Contact us to discuss opportunities to work together.