Introduction to Strategy Planning

Q1: What do we want?

For this workshop, this is easy:

• WE WANT OUR GOVERNMENT TO RATIFY THE FCTC!

Q1: What do we want?

In other contexts, this can be the most difficult question to answer. Ask yourself:

• Is our goal specific enough?• How effective would it be?• Will it happen anyway?• How much would it cost and who would pay?• Are there options you should just not do?

Q1: What do we want?

For each potential goal you need to assess:

• Your strengths and weaknesses as a movement

• Public support (actual and potential) for the agreed goal

• The barriers you face as a movement (eg tobacco industry resistance, political corruption, hostile media, etc.)

Q1: What do we want?

Advocacy is an art, not a science. It is about achieving desired goals (not just stating them). Many paths may get you there.

• Keep your eye fixed on the destination, and each small step will bring you closer. – Sometimes you may need to go sideways or backwards –

that’s OK.

• A map is usually essential!

Q2: Who in government can make

ratification happen? Depending on the political system in your

country, it may be:

1. Parliament

2. The President/Prime Minister

3. The Cabinet

4. or a combination of all 1-3.

Q3: Who in government can influence

the ratification process? While some people or institutions have direct authority

or power, other people in government influence the ratification process

• Ministers of Health, Finance and/or Foreign Affairs• Civil servants and advisors • Party political leaders

One of the first steps you should take is to determine who in the government has the responsibility for moving the ratification process forward.

Q3: Who in government can influence the ratification process?

Try to identify allies within government:

• a legal officer in the Health Ministry • a key MP

- people who can help "shepherd" the FCTC through the various steps and keep you informed of where pressure is needed.

Q4:What do they need to hear to persuade them to ratify?

You will need to craft "messages" for your written materials, press statements, talking points, etc.

• Important!: When formulating messages, the question is not: “what do we want to say” but “what must we say to persuade them to take the actions we want".

These will often be very different!

Q4:What do they need to hear to persuade them to ratify?

Think about your stance:• Cooperative?• Challenging?. • A combination?

Q4:What do they need to hear to persuade them to ratify?

• Core messages speak to the broad public interest.

• Tailored messages address the self-interest and special concerns of your target audience.

Q4:What do they need to hear to persuade them to ratify?

Examples of messages:

• Ratifying the FCTC will be a politically popular move - our country will be seen as a leader in the region and the world.

• Ratifying the FCTC will show that the government cares more for the future health of the country's children than for the economic wealth of the tobacco industry.

Advocate, don’t educate

Advocate, don’t educate

Advocate or educate?

• Educate– The addictive effect

of nicotine is mediated at least in part by stimulation of dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens

• Advocate– Nicotine is as

addictive as heroin or cocaine

Q5: What messages speak to the brain & the heart?

1. What are our powerful "Simplifying Concepts"?

• short phrases or labels that capture the essence of the FCTC’s goals in ways that resonate naturally with most people:

"a tobacco free future for our children“

"freedom from addiction and disease".

Q5: What messages speak to the brain & the heart?

2. What are our "Numbers That Sing?”

“Creative epidemiology”

A way of presenting statistics in ways that convey scientific information but also move an audience emotionally

- "If we do not act, 2 million of our citizens now alive will die from tobacco caused disease."

Q5: What messages speak to the brain & the heart?

3. What words and phrases best evoke important cultural values?

- family?

- duty?

4. What might be effective "responsive chord messages" (i.e. questions that evoke responses already embedded in people’s minds)?

Say what you mean

Say it again

Q6: Who are the most effective messengers

for our target audience?

• Who will our target audience most trust or listen to?

• Who does that audience most want to please?

• Who does that audience honor, respect, fear, or even love?

Q6: Who are the most effective messengers for our target audience?

Think creatively! Target audience = Prime Minister….

Messengers could be • former or current aides, • a cabinet member • business or labor leaders • leading scientists• journalists• religious leaders

• a friend, a spouse, even a celebrity.

Q6: Who are the most effective messengers for our target audience?

• Beware!

• Who does our target audience dislike, distrust, or not take seriously?

Q7:What are the most effective means for

delivering our messages? • Political lobbying? • Focused media advocacy? • Public protest? • A combination of these?

Q8: What are effective ways to gain the media's attention with stories that best

convey our messages?

• Make stories newsworthy.• Give your stories a “public health”

frame. This means:– Translate the individual problem into a

social issue– Assign responsibility for the problem– Present a solution– Make a practical appeal

Media advocacy techniques

Examples:

• the release of a report with new scientific findings

• a statement from prominent figures calling on the government to ratify the FCTC

Q9: What other materials do we need for our ratification campaign?

Examples: • short summary of the FCTC in your national

language• a fact sheet on why how the FCTC could help

your country• basic facts about tobacco-related mortality

and morbidity in your country