Our Work : Wesley Mission Case Study

Wesley Mission, Positioning a New Social Justice Leader

Objectives

Lighthouse Communications Group has been working with Wesley Mission to profile its leadership in social justice, and build the profile of Superintendent Keith Garner as a commentator on social and religious issues.

Wesley Mission was eager to refresh its public image as a leader in social advocacy, to build relationships with key influencers, to boost Government and community support for the Mission’s services and to be positioned as a Government partner in social justice policy.

Challenges included the need to realign Wesley Mission’s identity to Keith Garner rather than the outgoing Superintendent, and how to position Wesley Mission as a unique and authoritative voice in a crowded social justice market.

Strategy

Lighthouse Communications Groups assisted in the delivery of a program to help Wesley Mission build strong, positive relationships with its most important audiences and communicate key messages about its new, community-directed focus.

The campaign’s core was a rolling programme of six-monthly research into newsworthy social justice issues, produced by Wesley Mission’s social research team. The first issue, The Impact of Financial Stress on the Individual, Family and Community was followed up with roundtables attended by media, government departments, analysts, social trends commentators, corporate partners and academia, and a white paper with recommendations to address the issue. Throughout, several platforms for media, government and corporate relations activity were utilised to encourage wider debate on the issues and position Wesley Mission as a leader, including a media and Government launch of the report, State and Federal ministerial meetings, and promotion of the report’s findings to media outlets.

In addition, communications support was provided on specific campaigns. To support Wesley Mission’s Winter Appeal, Lighthouse Communications Group developed and executed a campaign around the issue of homelessness in New South Wales, the perceptions of the issue on the community, the reality at the coal face and the broader community impacts.

Results

In addition, an ongoing presence was ensured through ad-hoc opinion articles, media comment and corporate and think tank speaking opportunities and a targeted Government relations programme which aligned with the current research topic. 

As a result of these efforts, Wesley Mission was successful in securing extensive and meaningful coverage by influential journalists and media outlets that aligned the core issue with Wesley Mission, repeated key messages and positioned Wesley as a voice in social justice. For example, the launch of The Impact of Financial Stress saw Keith Garner interviewed by major broadcasters such as Alan Jones, and the launch of the homelessness appeal was widely covered by mainstream media outlets.

The relationship with Wesley Mission continues, with Lighthouse Communications helping to drive strategic PR, managing the charity’s reputation, building relationships and generating community, Government and corporate support.  

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