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Case Study: Renaissance West Midlands
Raising the profile of Renaissance West Midlands amongst regional MPs
Area of expertise: Museums, galleries & heritage
Client: Renaissance West Midlands, in partnership with MLA West Midlands
Project: Advocacy campaign
The brief
Renaissance West Midlands appointed Firebird Public Relations to develop a communications campaign to support them in their joint advocacy work with MLA West Midlands.
The aim was to provide regional support for the national campaign being led by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) to positively influence the outcomes of the government's 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review. In this context, the regional campaign sought to reinforce the core national communication messages at a local level, through targeting MPs, local government officials and other key individuals and organisations in the West Midlands.
Renaissance West Midlands is part of the UK government's £150m programme to transform England's regional museums. It is a partnership between five museums services: Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, The Herbert - Coventry, Ironbridge Gorge Museums Trust, Stoke-on-Trent Museums, and Wolverhampton Arts and Museums.
Objectives
- To build awareness, understanding and support amongst key West Midlands MPs and other influential stakeholders for the work of Renaissance West Midlands and MLA West Midlands
- To communicate the impact, influence and contribution of museums, galleries, libraries and archives within the local communities they serve
- To highlight the achievements of the Renaissance programme in the West Midlands
Strategy and plan
We prepared a communications strategy outlining the context of the West Midlands' campaign and identifying key messages, target audience, and key campaign activities. The latter included organising face-to-face meetings, onsite visits and behind-the-scenes tours for local MPs, as well as the development of a briefing pack.
Evaluation and measurement
We secured meetings and visits with nearly half of MPs and politicians targeted, and distributed a briefing pack to every single MP in the West Midlands.
PR Services provided
Successes
- Raised awareness of Renaissance West Midlands
- Enhanced government relations
- Regional contribution to a national campaign
Testimonial
"Firebird PR has played a key role in illustrating to regional MPs the positive impact which Renaissance funding has achieved for West Midlands museums in terms of education and developing audiences, the workforce and collections. We had never conducted a regional advocacy campaign on this scale before, and Firebird PR was instrumental in helping us to communicate the critical importance of sustaining current levels of government funding to the museum sector. As a result of this campaign, we now have much closer relationships with the region's key political figures which should stand the sector in good stead for the future."
Rita McLean
Head of Museums & Heritage Services, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
Chair, Renaissance West Midlands Programme Board