Client
- Organisation: Wildlife Victoria
- Sector: Wildlife welfare, rescue & advocacy (NFP)
- Context: Need to strengthen media relations, advocacy, and brand voice amid rising public interest and issues management
Client Need
- Appoint a leader to oversee proactive and reactive media, advocacy communications, and social media
- Build constructive relationships with journalists, government, partners and community stakeholders
- Elevate share of voice, credibility and public education around wildlife welfare
Our Approach
- Targeted search across NFP, environmental, and advocacy communications talent pools
- Direct engagement with candidates experienced in issues/crisis comms, earned media, campaign storytelling and public affairs
- Selective advertising and network outreach to purpose-led communicators aligned to wildlife welfare
- Evaluated capability in media strategy, spokesperson preparation, messaging frameworks, and digital analytics (e.g., Meltwater/Google Analytics/Sprout)
Outcome
- Appointment within 4 weeks of an External Relations Manager with significant media and advocacy expertise
- Immediate uplift in media responsiveness, message discipline and social content cadence
- Stronger public voice supporting education, advocacy and incident response
Key Success Factors
- Mission-centric positioning to attract values-aligned talent
- Emphasis on issues management and advocacy experience, not just PR
- Assessment of stakeholder engagement and evidence-based storytelling skills
Impact
- Increased media coverage quality, improved community engagement, and clearer advocacy narratives supporting Wildlife Victoria’s mission
