Delivering complex content communication with impact

Episode seven of the Agri-Food Comms Cast considers the complex content communication challenges Henry Dimbleby faced while piecing together his National Food Strategy. For the final episode of Season Two, Catherine Linch is joined by two special guests to share their insight on this comprehensive review.

Communication Challenges and Success Strategies

Communicating information that requires extensive cross-sector knowledge and context can prove problematic. It often risks losing your audiences’ interest. So how did Mr Dimbleby ensure his report was a success?

John Shropshire, chairman of G’s Marketing, was one of the farming representatives on the National Food Strategy advisory board. He joins our host to discuss the process behind the policy influencing report. Moreover, he shares the role that communication played in pulling together such a comprehensive document.

Acknowledging that farming can often be on the receiving end of bad press, seasoned expert in agricultural communications, Amy Jackson of Oxtale, talks about the challenges of effectively conveying proposed recommendations to audiences that are more likely to be resistant to change.

Amy praises the National Food Strategy for being wholly inclusive by sharing the responsibility for improving our food systems, diet, health and environment. She advises that setting incremental manageable objectives makes meeting targets much more realistic and achievable.

There are some big upcoming changes to farming, but how do we successfully communicate this information? Amy suggests that conveying a consistent message is key and the National Food Strategy does just that, highlighting three key areas of focus: producing food more efficiently, increasing biodiversity and capturing carbon.