Peer - graded Assignment :    Developing a communication strategy from scratch 

 Challenge & Tool Selection 

 As a Corporate Communications Consultant for a large retail and services company I was   asked by the in - house consulting department to create a successful public relations   strategy in order to gain more visibility towards ( young ) professionals . At this point ,   employer branding was poor , the department struggled to find qualified employees .   Conventional human resource activities did not bring the desired success . The idea was to   reach potential consultants through sustainable media relations . 

 First research underlined that this would be a tough project because especially young   people tend to hire at large consulting companies instead of in - house consulting   departments . Another problem was the industry : In Germany retail is not very popular   among graduates . I gained these insights by talking to human resource experts at my   company and to members of the consulting branch . The only way to succeed was by telling   compelling stories that will draw the reader ’s attention . 

 I remembered that around two years ago I helped a young consulting start - up to develop a   communications plan by using a tool called The Storytelling Tree which combines both   creative and strategic components . Originally developed for brand communications I found   out that it also works for strategic corporate communications , especially when you start a   business from scratch . Let ’s see if things will work out for an in - house consultancy . 

 The Storytelling Tree is a simple concept , easy to understand but still encompasses all the   different levels that are crucial for communications success . Let ’s imagine a tree with its   four key elements : 

    A Trunk 

    Branches 

    Leaves 

    Roots 

 The tree trunk stands for your company ’s values , mission and your promise to customers .   You have to know who you are and what you stand for . Being certain in yourself is the   foundation of all communication . Here ’s where authenticity comes into play . 

 The branches : Once you know who you are and what you stand for , you start developing   stories . Starting from who you are and what you offer you create strings of stories and   messages . What ’s essential here is that you do n’t just focus on what you want to talk   about , but figure out what your target audience wants to hear . Important : Target audiences   are not necessarily defined by demographics or gender , but – especially online – should be   defined by a common interest . 

 The leaves : Each branch – each story ( or campaign , as you will ) – then grows itself out   into different leaves . The leaves represent the various touchpoints with your target interest   group . For some stories that can be the entire array of communications channels from mail   to print to Facebook to TV to face to face . For other stories that might mean only your   internal communications channels or only your website . The touchpoints matter in regards   of the delivery format of your story , but should not dictate the story itself . 

 Unseen , but the most important part . The roots stand for the internal structures , processes   and culture within your organization . You can try all you want , but if your tree does n’t have   strong roots that are supporting it in its growth and that grow with it , you ’ll fail . 

 Application 

 I scheduled a workshop with five participants from the consulting department , each one   with a different background and career level . The only hardware I used was a blank piece   of paper in poster size , an Edding and post - its in four different colours . The participants ,   myself included , introduced themselves , afterwards I described the further process . 

 We started with the trunk and discussed the department ’s values in a very relaxed   atmosphere . At the end of this process we defined five principles such as Family comes   first . We honour employees with children and allow them to work wherever they want ( e.g. ) .    We wrote every single principle on a post - it and fixed all of them vertically - arranged on the   blank poster ( like the shape of a tree trunk ) . 

 After this , we moved forward to the branches : In this phase you develop concrete stories   ( the proverb " Think Big ! " becomes a decisive factor ) . To make it easier for the participants ,   I asked them : " What kind of story about consultancy would catch your attention ? " It came   out that the group had some difficulties in generating stories so I used an alternative   approach to that question . I told the group to pronounce concrete headlines ( a simple   strategy I learned back in the days I worked for Yellow Press – this is what YP reporters do   before they start their research ) . This tactic worked well : The results were nearly 20   headlines that we also wrote on post - its and then positioned like branches around the trunk   on the poster . 

 Next step : the leaves . This part focusses on the touchpoints with the target interest group .   In the present case I asked the participants if these were graduates or professionals only .   At the end of the conversation we identified additional personas such as internal   employees who are seeking for a new career path or tutors at universities ( who often give   career advises to their students ) . We made a list of online and print media and events , too ,   where we could place our stories . We also agreed that we had to create a portrait about   our company ’s in - house consultancy on the front page of the corporate website . As before ,   we wrote down our thoughts on post - its and positioned them like leaves around the   corresponding branches . 

 Finally we discussed the roots . This part turned out to be the easiest one because the   whole company just went through a huge cultural change process which aimed to increase   responsibility among the workforce . Employees were now allowed to speak individually for   the company . We defined spokespersons / protagonists for individual topics and defined a   clear quality management process . Finally we draw symbolic roots on the poster and   marked each one separately . 

 At the beginning of the workshop we had a blank piece of paper . Three hours later our   communications strategy was complete ! We generated strategic and entertaining stories .   Let me give you an example : 

    Value ( trunk ): " We succeed together , we fail together " 

    Headline ( branch ): " Ten golden rules that consulting newbies should follow " 

    Touchpoint ( leave ): Business Newspaper for young people 

    Protagonist / Speaker ( root ): Junior Consultant from the team 

 Conclusion & Insights 

 The process was vivid and productive . It seemed that people who mostly think very   strategically welcome little escapes into the world of visual thinking . Diagrams and pie   charts are mostly the only graphical elements they are used to . The drawing of a huge   symbolic tree forced them to leave habitual thoughts behind them – a tree is a living object ,   diagrams and pie charts are not . To gain more results the next time I would organize the   workshop outside the company ’s walls because spatial distance often leads to more   creativity . 

 With the Storytelling Tree we went through the first two stages of Jeanne Liedtkas Design   Thinking process : What is ? and What if ? The next steps would do a small - scale test with a   handful of stories and track the results ( What wows ? ) to finally see What works ? 

 Analysing the   problem     Interviews with   individual team   members and   human resources   experts from the   company     Scanning the   media landscape 

 Brainstorming   ideas / Creating   stories with the   Story Telling Tree   Tool     Prioritizing ideas 

 Small - scale test   with a handful of   stories with high   priority 

 Final roll - out of   stories that   succeeded in the   former test phase 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Peer - graded Assignment :    Developing a communication strategy from scratch 

 Challenge & Tool Selection 

 As a Corporate Communications Consultant for a large retail and services company I was   asked by the in - house consulting department to create a successful public relations   strategy in order to gain more visibility towards ( young ) professionals . At this point ,   employer branding was poor , the department struggled to find qualified employees .   Conventional human resource activities did not bring the desired success . The idea was to   reach potential consultants through sustainable media relations . 

 First research underlined that this would be a tough project because especially young   people tend to hire at large consulting companies instead of in - house consulting   departments . Another problem was the industry : In Germany retail is not very popular   among graduates . I gained these insights by talking to human resource experts at my   company and to members of the consulting branch . The only way to succeed was by telling   compelling stories that will draw the reader ’s attention . 

 I remembered that around two years ago I helped a young consulting start - up to develop a   communications plan by using a tool called The Storytelling Tree which combines both   creative and strategic components . Originally developed for brand communications I found   out that it also works for strategic corporate communications , especially when you start a   business from scratch . Let ’s see if things will work out for an in - house consultancy . 

 The Storytelling Tree is a simple concept , easy to understand but still encompasses all the   different levels that are crucial for communications success . Let ’s imagine a tree with its   four key elements : 

    A Trunk 

    Branches 

    Leaves 

    Roots 

 The tree trunk stands for your company ’s values , mission and your promise to customers .   You have to know who you are and what you stand for . Being certain in yourself is the   foundation of all communication . Here ’s where authenticity comes into play . 

 The branches : Once you know who you are and what you stand for , you start developing   stories . Starting from who you are and what you offer you create strings of stories and   messages . What ’s essential here is that you do n’t just focus on what you want to talk   about , but figure out what your target audience wants to hear . Important : Target audiences   are not necessarily defined by demographics or gender , but – especially online – should be   defined by a common interest . 

 The leaves : Each branch – each story ( or campaign , as you will ) – then grows itself out   into different leaves . The leaves represent the various touchpoints with your target interest   group . For some stories that can be the entire array of communications channels from mail   to print to Facebook to TV to face to face . For other stories that might mean only your   internal communications channels or only your website . The touchpoints matter in regards   of the delivery format of your story , but should not dictate the story itself . 

 Unseen , but the most important part . The roots stand for the internal structures , processes   and culture within your organization . You can try all you want , but if your tree does n’t have   strong roots that are supporting it in its growth and that grow with it , you ’ll fail . 

 Application 

 I scheduled a workshop with five participants from the consulting department , each one   with a different background and career level . The only hardware I used was a blank piece   of paper in poster size , an Edding and post - its in four different colours . The participants ,   myself included , introduced themselves , afterwards I described the further process . 

 We started with the trunk and discussed the department ’s values in a very relaxed   atmosphere . At the end of this process we defined five principles such as Family comes   first . We honour employees with children and allow them to work wherever they want ( e.g. ) .    We wrote every single principle on a post - it and fixed all of them vertically - arranged on the   blank poster ( like the shape of a tree trunk ) . 

 After this , we moved forward to the branches : In this phase you develop concrete stories   ( the proverb " Think Big ! " becomes a decisive factor ) . To make it easier for the participants ,   I asked them : " What kind of story about consultancy would catch your attention ? " It came   out that the group had some difficulties in generating stories so I used an alternative   approach to that question . I told the group to pronounce concrete headlines ( a simple   strategy I learned back in the days I worked for Yellow Press – this is what YP reporters do   before they start their research ) . This tactic worked well : The results were nearly 20   headlines that we also wrote on post - its and then positioned like branches around the trunk   on the poster . 

 Next step : the leaves . This part focusses on the touchpoints with the target interest group .   In the present case I asked the participants if these were graduates or professionals only .   At the end of the conversation we identified additional personas such as internal   employees who are seeking for a new career path or tutors at universities ( who often give   career advises to their students ) . We made a list of online and print media and events , too ,   where we could place our stories . We also agreed that we had to create a portrait about   our company ’s in - house consultancy on the front page of the corporate website . As before ,   we wrote down our thoughts on post - its and positioned them like leaves around the   corresponding branches . 

 Finally we discussed the roots . This part turned out to be the easiest one because the   whole company just went through a huge cultural change process which aimed to increase   responsibility among the workforce . Employees were now allowed to speak individually for   the company . We defined spokespersons / protagonists for individual topics and defined a   clear quality management process . Finally we draw symbolic roots on the poster and   marked each one separately . 

 At the beginning of the workshop we had a blank piece of paper . Three hours later our   communications strategy was complete ! We generated strategic and entertaining stories .   Let me give you an example : 

    Value ( trunk ): " We succeed together , we fail together " 

    Headline ( branch ): " Ten golden rules that consulting newbies should follow " 

    Touchpoint ( leave ): Business Newspaper for young people 

    Protagonist / Speaker ( root ): Junior Consultant from the team 

 Conclusion & Insights 

 The process was vivid and productive . It seemed that people who mostly think very   strategically welcome little escapes into the world of visual thinking . Diagrams and pie   charts are mostly the only graphical elements they are used to . The drawing of a huge   symbolic tree forced them to leave habitual thoughts behind them – a tree is a living object ,   diagrams and pie charts are not . To gain more results the next time I would organize the   workshop outside the company ’s walls because spatial distance often leads to more   creativity . 

 With the Storytelling Tree we went through the first two stages of Jeanne Liedtkas Design   Thinking process : What is ? and What if ? The next steps would do a small - scale test with a   handful of stories and track the results ( What wows ? ) to finally see What works ? 

 Analysing the   problem     Interviews with   individual team   members and   human resources   experts from the   company     Scanning the   media landscape 

 Brainstorming   ideas / Creating   stories with the   Story Telling Tree   Tool     Prioritizing ideas 

 Small - scale test   with a handful of   stories with high   priority 

 Final roll - out of   stories that   succeeded in the   former test phase
### Output: 