Could 2020 have been any tougher?! This year’s economic and health crises have challenged businesses large and small, from north to south - to North & South.

One very welcome response from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise has been the Regional Business Partners (RBP) programme, involving the offer of vouchers to cover such important business fundamentals as financial and cash-flow management, legal assistance and advice, business continuity planning – and marketing and communications.

And we’re pleased to announce that Wright Communications is now part of the voucher scheme – we’ve registered to provide a number of PR and communications services to businesses anywhere in New Zealand, the cost for which will be met by MBIE up to a limit of $5,000.

We’re offering three service packages under the Ministry’s RBP programme: Communications/Promotional Planning; Media Training; and Social Media Management and Content Plan Coaching.

Communications Planning

For most organisations, the first of these – Communications Planning – is probably the most valuable, particularly when times are challenging and new strategies are called for.  Professional communications planning can do a number of important things, including:

• reintroduce your organisation to customers, stakeholders and strangers
• crystallise your “why” - your values, what you stand for and what you bring to New Zealanders
• utilise important trends in communications, such as sustainability storytelling
• tune into what your audience cares about
• make the most of the platforms your audience is on – social media, websites, print, apps and adverts – to gauge current feeling, issues and needs.
• help you learn the language of your target market
• identify the channels through which you can talk to the people who need you
• develop a future focus for your communications, with S.M.A.R.T. goals
• help you get your business plan and business objectives articulated, including creating a PR plan and calendar
• work out how to get your business story into the news, so thousands can know your name and your brand.

Our Promotional Planning package is a half- or full-day workshop, in person or online, to guide you through the preparation of a plan, covering business and PR objectives, audience targeting, strategy and message development, narrative storytelling, promotional channels, lead development, and ROI measurement.

Cost is $3,210 for a half-day or $4,922 (full-day) – excluding GST.

Media training

Whether it’s to build your business’s media profile proactively, or respond to negative issues arising in the media, the value of media training can’t be overstated. Under the RBP scheme we offer a half- or full-day media training package (in person or online) run by experienced kiwi media-training guru Greg Ward, who provides two options – one-on-one training - suitable for single spokesperson roles,  or training for up to three people. Costs: from $2,000-3,500 excluding GST, depending on the number involved and desired duration.

Social Media

Our Social Media Management Coaching package will suit organisations that are relatively new to the practice or wish to enhance a possibly limited social media platform and exposure. The two-hour onsite coaching session – at the PC – looks at how to drive e-commerce sales and lead generation, launch a brand or product on social media, choose the right platform to suit the organisation, and build a community of interested followers. Cost: $2,140 excluding GST for the management coaching; add social media content plan coaching for an extra $1,605 excluding GST.

We’re thrilled to be part of the programme and proud to be able to offer these focused coaching blocks to help fellow kiwi businesses enhance their marketing and improve their ability to see out the COVID-19 challenge.

For more details or to book a time to chat with us, click here.