Making the CLA the Voice of Rural Britain
Rural areas contribute more than 15% to Britain's GDP. The annual Rural Business Conference, hosted by the Country Land and Business Association, is the biggest gathering of rural industry leaders in the UK calendar and where the government sets out its vision for the rural economy. With the Minister of Rural Affairs, the Lib Dem leader and industry figures all speaking, we set out to ensure the CLA's voice was the one that actually cut through and shaped the day's agenda.
Impact
The CLA's CEO speech drove the headlines and set the agenda for the day. We secured attendance from The Times, Financial Times, Guardian, Telegraph, Daily Mail, BBC and the Press Association. All 70 pieces of coverage following the event were centred on the CLA's speech; a clean sweep that demonstrated the power of strategic narrative preparation and bold, well-timed public intervention.
Approach
Months in advance, we worked with the CLA to develop a clear narrative around a decade of government neglect of rural Britain and a solution: a new settlement for the rural economy and all those living within it. We drafted this into a speech and arranged for it to be delivered directly to the minister while she was on stage. To maximise coverage, we briefed agenda-setting political and rural affairs reporters in advance that the CLA - who rarely stage public interventions - were about to publicly rebuke the government's management of rural affairs.
