Reasoning with unreason
How do you rebuild the trust of intensely vocal consumer groups? Our client, a telecoms company serving thousands of communities, was facing pushback that was halting the expansion of their small cell network. Consumer research shows that most people actually do want more telecom infrastructure. And scientific research reassures us that telecom technology is completely safe.
Despite this, in every market this client was expanding to, they were facing opposition. They needed to build a playbook that could give their team the support they needed to manage this conflict. We were brought in to uncover the insights that would let them do that. We had to figure out what was motivating this pushback, and the best ways to combat it.
Keep your friends close…
To understand where this pushback was coming from, we needed a pragmatic, comprehensive consumer segmentation of the concerned groups. Anxiety so widespread could come from a range of concerns. We had to name any and all opposition our client might face.
We decided to use quantitative data to profile the detractors. But instead of letting the data fall wherever, we looked ahead and prioritised the factors our client valued. Through this, we were able to uncover four distinct groups our client was facing. At the same time, we partnered with a sister agency to do an in-depth review of an activation gone bad, so we could learn from past mistakes.
A plan and a playbook
We realized that there was a meaningful difference between different types of detractors. Only two out of the four groups were likely to actually attend a community meeting and voice their concerns. The first of these groups had simple health and safety concerns which could be handled with direct, proactive messaging.
The second group was more challenging – they were unlikely to be swayed by any messaging. But ensuring the broader community’s easy access to scientific studies could neutralize the impact of this group’s misleading narrative. This tailored to understanding the audience lit up the cues the client needed to create a cohesive playbook.
Mapping the play
The playbook the client was able to construct with the data easily paved the way forward, and became a guiding light for their team.
Equipped with message clarity, the client’s public affairs team was able to satisfy community concerns. They maintained control over the narrative by giving local contractors specialized information for curious local citizens. The outcome: money saved, timelines met, and successful activations. The confidence the client gained from the insights made the challenge they faced manageable, not monumental.
