Overview
Our long-standing retained account with social housebuilding consortium JV North dates back to 2011.
We deliver our Comms Audit 360° process at regular intervals to ensure the communications strategy is fit for purpose by helping the organisation meet its corporate objectives.
The latest review was delivered in mid-2023 to coincide with the appointment of a new Chair and Vice-Chair and also the challenging operating landscape housebuilders are facing due to high inflation, interest rates and supply chain demand.
The strategic communications audit plays a crucial role for JV North given its scale and standing.
Members manage over 250,000 properties and have invested £1bn with a further £700m committed by the end of the government’s current Affordable Homes Programme in 2026.
Duncan is a pleasure to work with. His creative thinking and commitment to deliver are what set him apart.
The Comms Audit 360° process
This saw us systematically work through the five key principles of our Comms Audit 360° process:
AUDIT
COLLATE
RESEARCH
STRATEGY
REPORTS
An audit workshop session was held with the new Chair, outgoing Chair, new Vice-Chair and the director of the consortium’s social housing consultancy, Saffer Cooper, which manages JV North’s current development programme of 4,000 homes and £560m procurement framework.
We analysed all aspects of the organisation’s communications measuring the appropriateness against JV North’s current priorities.
We also researched the activity carried out by the consortium’s key stakeholders: Homes England and the government’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ensure our work aligned and resonated.
This insight, information and data allowed us to develop a new communications strategy that was aligned with JV North’s five corporate objectives.
Recommendations Report
A highly detailed report was written to operate as a reference point and ongoing practical guide. It also provided clear guidelines and recommendations – such as the most appropriate tactics and channels that should be used to achieve the consortium’s strategic aims – that JV North’s Board ratified for implementation.
It included:
Communications strategy aligned to JV North’s five corporate objectives
Communications and media protocol
Reputation management protocol
Target audience groups and segmentation
Target media groups
Market and media identification
Key messaging
Tone of voice
Content planning and delivery
Forward plan calendar
Brand identity and guidelines
Controlled document suite
Website analysis
Social media analysis
Marcomms service integration
Measurement and evaluation benchmarks
Account management [systems, efficiencies, review of subscriptions]
Efficiency savings: time and financial
Duncan is a pleasure to work with. His creative thinking, practical ideas and commitment to deliver are what set him apart.
He has a passion for what he does and works tirelessly to meet the needs of his clients, while being open to challenge and debate which in turn leads to the best results.
John Bowker
Chair, JV North