With a defined corporate vision, mission and positioning all in place, the next step for your organisation is to have a clear understanding of the key stakeholders.

These are people who have the power to block or advance your vision – get them on board and you have incredibly powerful advocates; fail to engage and you are faced with a difficult task to see your project through to completion.

Stakeholders are not just customers and employees. There are other groups who have an interest and stake in your organisation. At Fifth Ring, we use a six-market model (see separate graphic) that illustrates those who will have an influence on your organisation and ultimately, your brand.

Customers, suppliers, employment agencies, employees and even the media, all have a role to play in how your organisation is perceived. Fifth Ring’s brand and strategy development team will work with you to engage with your stakeholders to achieve clarity and understanding and find out what makes them, and you, tick.

It is important not just to pinpoint stakeholders, but also to understand how they feel about your brand:

• How familiar are they with it?
• Are they positive, neutral or negative towards it?

The answers to these questions shape the way we develop your marketing communications strategy. We will identify the marketing strategy and tactics based on the solid information we gather through research and engage with each stakeholder group in the most appropriate way.

Sometimes, we are asked to “sense check” internal perceptions of stakeholder awareness and attitudes. We do the qualitative research, analyse and report back on the findings from speaking to customers, staff, partners and the media.

Our aim is to ensure that your marketing communications strategy is based on reality, not assumptions or theory. As a result, the marcomms plan is much more likely to succeed - and our track record reveals this to be the case, helping you move from vision to communication – making thinking visible.