Drafting this Communication Plan, the Citizens Committee of Saint Martin’s will plan and execute a successful blog campaign. The drive behind the campaign is to inform and connect the community through a web of shared stories, experiences, and knowledge. The committee is working towards gaining an equal say in the rent regulations. Using a four-part blog series, committee members will reach out to active members of the public and use interviews to highlight their voices and perspectives. Blog posts will have information on what the community member has done, their experience, and if they have learnt anything to share with others going through the expropriation process.
Audience
The primary target audience of this blog campaign is the community members of Saint Martin’s Block who have been affected by the expropriation of the community. The community members who read the blogs will identify with the members that we interview as they’re going through the same process. There is a sense of connection between the writers and the audience and a deeper level of understanding, compassion, and frustration around the situation.
Why Blogs?
The purpose of the campaign is to establish a connection and strengthen the community of Saint Martin’s Block. Utilizing a blog campaign allows the Committee to use a personal voice and increase that sense of connection between the content from the posts and the people who read them. Using this channel of communication also allows for interaction between the audience and the writers. Blog posts give the audience the chance for commentary on the content they have read, fueling the sense of community that the campaign is attempting to strengthen.
Having a campaign that can be shared by the audience can increase the reach that it has. For this campaign, we see our secondary audience from outside of Little Burgundy. If people who are not affected by the expropriation are able to see the content, empathize and rally their support, the government will be encouraged to address the issues.
The creative licence that blog posts allow is another benefit of this channel. In the four-part campaign, the committee wants to include video interviews with the community members that provide a level of visual and auditory stimulus. The blog can give us the opportunity to include the petition so people can sign online.
Spokespeople
The content creators and spokespeople of this blog will be direct members of the Citizens Committee, including Mr. Jack Jones, Mrs. Lucilla Pion, and Mrs. Isa Croxen. Having the vice-president and secretary as collaborators on the blog content will help disseminate crucial information to the community. Having a general member of the committee will help ask the questions the audience might not know.
The videos that accompany posts will come from members of the community who are not part of the Citizen Committee. These videos will help incorporate the community members into the discussion. It provides the opportunity to empower their individual voices and speak their piece in the expropriation discussion. It is beneficial to have members of the community hear from people who are similar to them and whom they can relate to.
Content
The campaign is designed to strengthen and develop the community, we don’t want people to feel alone in this housing crisis. The video content will include similar interview questions but allow the interviewees to lead the conversation. While the written content will provide information from the interview and support to the people who need it. The first blog post will include a description of the reform that the Committee feels is needed and supporting evidence. The first video will be longer than the others and include multiple interviews. We hope this will demonstrate the scope of the situation. Blogs will include a link to the petition we are creating to gain the right to 50/50 control of the rent regulations.
Calendar
The blog campaign will be released once a week leading up to the petition signing event on December 3, 2021. The timeline of this campaign is designed to increase discussion about the issue leading up to the event. Releasing one post a week will keep the discussion active and on people’s minds. The information that is available will also help people who are going through the experience.
Conlusion
This blog campaign is designed to create a web of connections between the people who are experiencing expropriation. It will also help spread awareness and help change the control that the Citizens Committee has on the rent regulations.