Public Messaging
Getting an organisation's core message right and used consistently: what you say, in what order, and how it holds up when someone pushes back.
Overview
Most organisations have a message in the sense that a document exists. What they usually lack is a message that different people repeat the same way, that holds up when challenged, and that says something a competitor could not also claim.
Developing one is mostly editing. Establishing what is genuinely true and distinctive, cutting what is aspirational, ordering it so the strongest claim leads, and then testing it on people outside the organisation who have no reason to be generous.
Who this is for
- Companies where every department describes the business differently
- Organisations whose message has never survived a difficult question
- Businesses preparing for a launch, a funding round or a change of direction
How we approach public messaging
The specific pieces of work a typical engagement covers. Scope is agreed up front — nothing here is a surprise line item later.
Core narrative
The central statement in one paragraph. If it needs a page it will not be repeated accurately by anyone.
Message hierarchy
Primary and supporting messages ordered by audience, so different people emphasise different things without contradicting each other.
Proof points
Evidence for each claim. An unsupported claim is a liability the first time a journalist checks it.
Difficult questions
Prepared, honest answers to what you would rather not be asked. These get asked whether or not you prepared.
Message testing
Tested with people outside the organisation, because internal audiences fill in context that outsiders do not have.
Adoption
Getting it used consistently across sales, support, recruitment and leadership, which is where messaging usually fails.
From first call to measured result
The same sequence every time, so you always know what happens next.
Gather
Interview internally and externally to find what is genuinely true, distinctive and believed.
Draft
Write the narrative and hierarchy, cutting the claims that cannot be supported.
Test
Try it on outsiders and on the difficult questions, then revise where it does not survive.
Embed
Roll it out with examples and short sessions per team, and check after a quarter whether it is actually being used.
Outcomes, not deliverables
A pile of artefacts isn't progress. These are the changes the work is meant to produce — and what we report against.
One company, one story
Consistency across departments is noticed by buyers more than anyone inside expects.
Claims that survive scrutiny
Proof points mean a challenge is answered rather than deflected.
Prepared for the hard question
Having an honest answer ready is the difference between a difficult moment and a damaging one.
Faster communication everywhere
An agreed message removes the argument that precedes every campaign, page and pitch.
Common questions about Public Messaging
The things people ask before they get in touch. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
How is this different from brand positioning?
Positioning decides the space you want to occupy against competitors. Messaging is what you actually say, in what order, with what evidence. Positioning usually comes first, and messaging without it tends to circle.
How long should the core message be?
One paragraph that a person can repeat from memory after hearing it twice. Messaging documents that run to several pages are reference material, not messages, and nobody uses them under pressure.
Who should the message be tested on?
People outside the organisation: customers, prospects, and ideally a journalist or analyst who will be sceptical. Internal testing produces agreement because everyone already knows the context that makes it make sense.
How do we make people actually use it?
Short sessions per team using their own real situations, plus examples of it applied to their work. A document circulated by email changes nothing, which is why adoption is part of the engagement rather than the end of it.
Thinking about Public Messaging?
Tell us what you are trying to change. If we are not the right fit we will say so, and point you somewhere better.
Looking at the wider picture?
Public Messaging usually sits alongside other work in Public Relations & Communications. Browse the full area to see what it connects to.