Communicating change with precision and impact
Central Pennsylvania’s largest media organizations were planning to join forces. We made sure the announcement went off without a hitch and achieved positive sentiment internally and externally.
Challenge
WITF and LNP, two well-known and respected organizations, planned to unite.
LNP Media: For nearly 158 years, four generations of the Steinman family of Lancaster, PA, have owned and operated the LNP Media Group. Steinman Communications, which is owned by the Steinman family, gifted the LNP Media Group and its publications to WITF.
WITF: WITF has been an essential part of the Central Pennsylvania region’s civic, educational and cultural fabric for over 60 years. WITF operates a non-commercial television station in Harrisburg, and the region’s NPR radio station, WITF-FM (89.5).
The big announcement of the gift brought layers of complexity. Audiences included employees and many influential community and regional stakeholders with deep, longtime interests in both organizations. It was essential to convey that neither enterprise would need to compromise their values. The transaction would uphold all that LNP and WITF represent—and even more.
LNP and WITF chose JPL to lead the change communication strategy. We were charged with vision-casting and clearly explaining the transaction. We had to show how the change would positively impact the employees, stakeholders and community.
JPL prepared the way for a successful transition and evolution, under strict trust and confidentiality.
Solution
There’s only one chance to get change communications right. This particular transaction was even more complicated since the clients are news organizations. It was important that WITF and LNP broke their story first, then empowered others to cover it.
Our plans covered every detail and prepared for any situation that might arise before and after the announcement.
The JPL team produced impactful web, video and social content to bring the messaging strategy to life. The content highlighted the transaction’s impact and benefits for the organizations’ employees and the Central Pennsylvania region.
During announcement time, we made sure the right audiences received the right messages at the right time.
After that, we activated a 150-day internal change communications plan and a content calendar. The plan allowed employees to stay informed and facilitated connections between WITF and LNP. This resulted in immediate employee engagement through brainstorming sessions, social events and sharing stories in weekly communications.
As the integration began, JPL developed new brand architecture guidelines to direct the organizations as they became a unified enterprise.
Above all, we measured the results. We conducted surveys to set benchmarks and evaluated the effectiveness of employee communications.
Results
WITF & LNP employee survey statistics post announcement:
87%
would recommend my organization as a great place to work
82%
are excited about the future of WITF and LNP as a combined organization
88%
are proud to work here
JPL provided a steady hand during a time of organizational transformation. The JPL team created a framework that prioritized strategic communications about the transaction while balancing the important cultural and organizational messaging to our staff through regular emails and events. Their program has served as the baseline for our ongoing communications strategy as we bring the organizations together.
We worked previously with the JPL team on sensitive communications strategies that had been highly successful. We called them again because of the importance of articulating clearly the purpose for and the benefits of this transaction to a broad audience. The plan was crafted with great care and detail. It was deployed flawlessly. We ultimately observed how the stories told around the transaction clearly resonated with our target audiences as we heard our main messages repeated in community conversations and across various media channels that discussed the transaction.
