The City of Halifax has a problem on their hands. Deep into a lengthy and expensive municipal re-branding campaign with the goal of making the Halifax Metropolitan Area a more recognizable destination, dissent has grown in some affected parties. Complaints have come from several different sources, including citizens of surrounding communities like Dartmouth and Coal Harbour, as well as Dartmouth-area City Councillor Gloria McCluskey. The main sentiment among the angry parties is distaste for the City of Halifax’s attempt to assimilate the surrounding municipalities under a single corporate brand. They believe that the City of Halifax is trying to claim credit for local attractions, such as Burnside Park in Dartmouth, that they had no hand in developing. As the cost and tensions associated with the project rise, it has become necessary to ask how it has become such a mess.
At the core of the misfortune are conflicting stakeholder interests. While the City of Halifax’s plan to make the city more globally marketable seems like it would benefit the whole area, they neglected to consider the civic pride of the small and unique communities surrounding Halifax proper, and their desire to remain independent. So how could this have been avoided? Through the involvement and consultation of affected stakeholders during the branding process. KIMBO Design takes stakeholder involvement very seriously, and we implement it through a commitment to communication, collaboration, and project management.
Communicating with Stakeholders
Since every business relationship should theoretically be fruitful for both the agency and client, any issues usually arise from miscommunication. We have many methods for combatting miscommunication. Our process begins by bringing a new client in to our office, in order to meet the KIMBO team, and to have a discovery session. This allows us to plant the seeds for a thriving relationship, learning how the new client does business, how they interact, what their expectations are, and when they need work executed by. We will record the meeting and share it with them, so that they can be used for reference, or to solve any disagreements over what has been agreed upon. The discovery session establishes a strong foundation to build great brands and websites on. As the project develops, frequent update meetings will keep the client informed on progress, and once we have completed the work, we offer in-depth analytic reporting, so that success can be quantified. KIMBO policy is to respond to any inquiries within the hour, so clients can be comfortable with the knowledge that we are available whenever they need us.
Collaboration with Stakeholders
While open communication is generally beneficial for any project, one of its main uses is to allow us to understand exactly who will be involved and affected by any design project. By understanding who the stakeholders are, we can make more educated decisions about how to proceed. We have many techniques for ensuring all stakeholders get input into a final decision. For creative work, naming and branding, we prepare presentations that the main client contact can shop around with decision makers and employees, so that feedback is maximized in both quantity and quality. We also have experience with focus groups, for when public opinion must be measured, which is perhaps something that could have saved the City of Halifax from their current headache.
Project Managing Stakeholders
When many stakeholders are involved on a project, a key concept is information sharing. As feedback mixes with drafts and mockups, it is essential to keep all files organized and accessible. We do this through the Basecamp project management program. Basecamp is a shared online platform that allows for the consolidation of all project files into a single location. We upload the notes we take from every meeting, recordings of the discovery session, project progress files, and whatever else we find relevant. Basecamp allows for us to designate project participants based on their status (client, internal, etc.), which means that our team can also freely share information without showing the client anything we don’t want them to see. Keeping our creative process as transparent and accessible as we can allows our stakeholders to monitor the project as it progresses. We prefer to give our clients occasional “temperature checks” where they can see where the project is at, instead of a single unveiling. Basecamp is perfect for this, because it gives all stakeholders a forum for voicing opinions, compiling relevant content, and airing any issues they have before they become costly.
