Communication and publicity - what for?

Does your project have an impact? Do other people know about your work? Project publicity and communication are activities that may be overseen by some beneficiaries, however, these prove to be vital project ingredients especially if raising awareness for the work carried out are main operational goals. That is why it is important that serious consideration is given as to what type of communication activities should be undertaken right from the project start and when such provisions should be clearly indicated that they are part of the project activity plan. Even though publicity and communication may be seen as the same thing they do have a different purpose, emphasis in time and coverage.

Communication

• Connecting with your target audience;
• Obtaining feedback and follow up on the impact from your activities;
• More targeted;
• Carried out throughout the lifetime of the project.

Publicity

• Getting the information about your project out there;
• Usually one way – little room for feedback;
• Wider audiences;
• Mainly carried out at implementation and especially at project close phase.

As main project activities communication and publicity accompany the whole project lifecycle. It is characteristic, however, that as the project goes through different phase of development and implementation so do the communication and publicity activities.

EC Requirements on project communication and publicity

Commission Regulation 1828/2006 (as amended on 1 September 2009)
Article 8
Responsibilities of beneficiaries relating to information and publicity measures for the public

1. The beneficiary shall be responsible for informing the public, by means of the measures laid down in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4, about the assistance obtained from the Funds.

2. The beneficiary shall put up a permanent explanatory plaque that is visible and of significant size no later than six months after completion of an operation that fulfils the following conditions:
(a) the total public contribution to the operation exceeds EUR 500 000;
(b) the operation consists in the purchase of a physical object or in the financing of infrastructure or of construction operations.
The plaque shall state the type and name of the operation, in addition to the information referred to in Article 9. The information referred to in Article 9 shall take up at least 25% of the plaque.

3. The beneficiary shall, during the implementation of the operation, put up a billboard at the site of each operation which fulfils the following conditions:
(a) the total public contribution to the operation exceeds EUR 500 000;
(b) the operation consists in the financing of infrastructure or of construction operations.

The information referred to in Article 9 shall take up at least 25% of the billboard. When the operation is completed, the billboard shall be replaced by the permanent explanatory plaque referred to in paragraph 2.

4. Where an operation receives funding under an operational programme co-financed by the ESF and, in appropriate cases, where an operation receives funding under the ERDF or the Cohesion Fund, the beneficiary shall ensure that those taking part in the operation have been informed of that funding.
The beneficiary shall provide clear notice to the effect that the operation being implemented has been selected under an operational programme co-financed by the ESF, the ERDF or the Cohesion Fund.

Article 9
Technical characteristics of information and publicity measures for the operation

All information and publicity measures provided by managing authorities or beneficiaries and aimed at beneficiaries, potential beneficiaries and the public shall include the following:
(a) the emblem of the European Union, in accordance with the graphic standards set out in Annex I, and reference to the European Union;
(b) reference to the Fund concerned:
(1) for the ERDF: “European Regional Development Fund”;
(2) for the Cohesion Fund: “Cohesion Fund”;
(3) for the ESF: "European Social Fund”;
(c) a statement chosen by the managing authority, highlighting the added value of the intervention of the Community, and preferably “Investing in your future”.
(c) Where an information or publicity measure promotes several operations co-financed by more than one Fund, the reference provided for in point (b) of the first paragraph shall not be required.

Useful approaches to project communication

Stakeholder analysis:

A systematic approach to stakeholders is needed if communication is to be targeted effectively. Lead Partners need to play a coordinating role in this process.

• Internal stakeholders: Projects often experience administrative problems within their own organisations when they implement programme rules or mainstream project results like implementing new procedures. Neither has a chance of succeeding without the support of relevant stakeholders within the organisation.
• Internal stakeholders can be: the upper management, project sponsors and other groups within the organisation (e.g. finance unit)
• External stakeholders can be considered as anyone outside the implementing organisation who could be affected by the project´s results. They provide vital input during the development phase and should be consulted.
  

Internal communication:

When teams are working together over long distances between different countries, good communication flows are important. ‘Good’ in this context means that they involve all partners and are concrete, clear and timely. Insufficient communication can easily lead to conflicts and problems.
Too much information or irrelevant information may on the other hand confuse or lead to a drop in interest in project communications. Therefore it is important to be clear in advance about:

• What needs to be communicated and to what level of detail?
• Who needs to be informed?
• When and how often do they need to be informed?
• How should they be informed? What is the most appropriate medium?

The main reasons for communication within the project team are:

• Sharing information that partners need in order to work together
• Information about project progress to identify and react to problems and successes
• Information about decisions and changes within the project and externally (the programme) to ensure all partners have the latest information

External communication:

External communication throughout the project and publicity of project outcomes to key stakeholder and target groups is essential to make the project as widely visible as possible, achieve objectives and obtain necessary backing. It involves many aspects and essentially involves all aspects of the project’s appearance in the ‘outside world’, such as the project identity (logo, slogan, etc.), website and information materials, events, networking and media relations. The tools for external communication do not differ much from programme communication tools.

For project communication one needs to consider:

• Short timeline to implement communication
• The issue that most results are completed at project closure but communication must take place throughout the project lifecycle and also after closure (e.g. issue of many websites closing right after project closure)

In large European cooperation projects external communication can be a quite complex process as different target groups need to be approached in different ways. Therefore, projects are recommended to develop communication plans in order to…
… identify all stakeholders and target groups to be addressed by external project communication
… develop a set of methods and tools for managing and communicating key messages
… coordinate communication activities of individual partners
… provide the Project Steering Group with a detailed framework of appropriate communication
mechanisms/tools and get their backing
… ensure the communication of regular project updates to external stakeholders
… ensure adherence of all external communication and publicity with programme requirements
… identify the actions and costs required for external communication and publicity

A number of ground rules for all communication with regard to the complex multinational and long- distance environment of INTERREG projects should also be kept in mind:

• Use simple, clear language that is also easy to understand for non-native speakers.
• Be as concrete as possible – vague messages that can be interpreted in different ways and can easily lead to confusion or conflicts.
• When using technology, ensure that all partners have technical access/ capacity and the skills to use these tools without creating extra work for others.

How could it be done? Programme support for project communication

• Develop templates, collect best practice examples and share them on the programme website (communication plans, meeting documentation, websites and working spaces)
• Provide communication seminars for project partners right after the project approval
• Give advice in publicity and communication matters
• Make the development of a project website compulsory (e.g. URBACT, between 1st and 2nd phase of project approval) and provide basic guidance
• Require regular reporting on communication activities
• Address communication in the Application Form as a work package on its own