Our experience

With almost 25 years of continuing development, the QCCN team has successfully completed projects across a range of industry sectors. Drawing on almost two centuries of combined experience, we create targeted programs that deliver tangible results.

Our core focus rests on assisting our clients to effectively engage with stakeholders of all types and develop mutually beneficial relationships. We strive to understand all points of view and build the bridges needed to achieve joint aims and effect change.

Our senior practitioners are experts in their own fields of strategic communication planning, stakeholder relations and community engagement, issues and crisis management, and media relations.

In support of these core activities, we regularly undertake communication audits, media training, stakeholder surveys, market research, event management, social media campaigns and graphic design for our clients.

This combination of expertise and experience has created a depth of resources unseen in other firms specialising in regional and rural Australia.

We offer specific and proven support across the full range of corporate communication and stakeholder relations – expertise on which our clients have come to rely and which our case studies demonstrate.

Our strength lies in our multi-disciplinary approach to client needs, bringing to bear expertise from across the network to develop tailored solutions rather than pigeonhole clients into a rigid corporate structure.

The QCCN team uses its combined expertise in stakeholder relations, corporate communications and public relations to ensure clients and their projects are positioned to achieve their goals, and we to ensure that every aspect of a project works to enhance the reputation of our client.

QCCN provides support across five primary areas:

Stakeholder relations and community engagement

Recognising the growing need for high levels of communication with individuals and groups within the community to develop workable solutions to diverse issues and challenges, we have worked to establish a strong ability in stakeholder relations and community engagement.

Through processes including individual, group, and mass meetings, surveys, advertising, displays, virtual town halls and contactless engagement; we work to develop a meaningful working relationship between our clients and their stakeholders. Recognition of the rights and responsibilities of all parties in developing shared solutions is a feature of our work.

Whether the brief is to find out what a community thinks or wants, inform the community about a specific issue or event, or promote a new concept to a community, our specialists work to develop tailored solutions which meet the needs of both clients and their communities.

More and more or our work in this area is at a strategic level where our senior practitioners engage directly with key stakeholders to achieve mutually acceptable outcomes.

In addition to traditional consultation strategies, our teams have worked extensively with indigenous and other groups to redefine the consultation process and provide culturally appropriate outcomes for all stakeholders.

Government relations

Increasingly, the senior QCCN team forms the bridge between government and citizens, both advocating for regional priorities and communicating government policy back to those it affects.

Our networks of trust extend to all parts of the political spectrum and we open doors, take advice, and work with local, state and the federal government and their agencies routinely.

Managing Director David Donohue has recently retired after serving for many years as the Deputy Chair for Regional Development Australia (North and West Queensland) and as a member of the Queensland Government’s Small Business Recovery Advisory Council (North Queensland). He still serves as President of TropLinks,

In recent years, the team have advised and supported Queensland Treasury, Austrade, Australian Electoral Commission and a number of other significant government structures in complex and far-reaching projects impacting the way government and its citizens interact.

Strategic communication planning

While QCCN offers clients all of the technical corporate communications support possible, our real strength is in the conceptual work and strategic planning needed to pick the right tools at the right time, to target the right stakeholders for the right reasons, and get the desired results.

In an increasingly complex and crowded world, even the most skilfully crafted communications can sink without trace unless it is accurately placed within a broader strategic framework and supported by a holistic approach to stakeholder engagement.

Using best practice gained from a range of sources, the QCCN team specialises in developing highly effective communication plans which are appropriate for each individual circumstance, able to be readily operationalised, and produce measurable results.

Our expert understanding of communication strategy and planning means we are regularly asked to audit the work of other professionals.

Issues and crisis management

Corporate communication is most effective when based on an issues management program which monitors relevant issues and public attitudes to issues of importance to all stakeholders. We have wide experience in the development and maintenance of issues management plans both for specific projects and long-term client relationships.

Crisis management is also a highly sensitive but successful area of our operations, with our senior staff serving on the Crisis Management Teams of a number of high-profile government and corporate organisations.

We work hard to find the appropriate image to promote – based on the facts of the situation, the public perception of the client and the relevant issues – before putting in place a strategy to steer the client successfully through the issue with the aim of not only preserving but enhancing corporate reputation.

To help our clients ensure they are prepared to face public crises, QCCN also offers training in crisis management, and works to establish effective and efficient crisis management procedures for clients.

Media relations

We have developed a strong specialty in media relations – covering research and preparation of media releases, co-ordination of accompanying photography, hosting media conferences and events, submission and sponsorship of material to media outlets, and direct media liaison.

QCCN has developed excellent working relationships with regional and rural media throughout the State, tapping directly into each media “pool” to maximise positive results.

Our policy of only issuing media releases which have strong news value and always being honest with media has generated an atmosphere of trust and mutual professional respect between QCCN and regional media.

We are in regular contact with the local representatives of metropolitan and national media, and if required, can directly target individual journalists to place stories of metropolitan or national interest which may not otherwise survive the network journey.

Specialised support services

In support of our key practice areas, we also provide specialised services in the following:

Communication audit – our demonstrated and benchmarked expertise means we are regularly called upon to review and measure the processes and outputs of other communication teams, especially in major infrastructure and high-risk projects.

Marketing and design – our dedicated marketing and design team is responsible for award winning work spanning regional branding activities, web portal development, social media campaigns and business-to-business marketing. More and more, this work is undertaken in the online world.

Media training – QCCN is the only Queensland firm offering media training packages focused on regional media operations and which are tailored to fit each client’s industry, location, issues and specific needs.

Internal corporate communications – organisations often neglect their own staff and internal stakeholders when considering communication strategies. One of QCCN’s strengths lies in our ability to involve internal audiences in communication processes and develop their ownership of the outcomes. Strategies may include newsletters, staff ambassador programs or workgroup-based communication.

Event management – Events provide a once-only opportunity for promotion. We work to design events to maximise exposure for clients at every step, as well as ensuring that the logistics and administration of the event are smooth and seamless to provide the best possible experience for guests, and for effective delivery of the client’s message. We maintain links with leading professional event coordinators to provide support for clients requiring larger conferences or functions.

Social and market research – As markets become more sophisticated, so the need for sound market information grows. QCCN has a sound track record of working with clients to develop market intelligence and strategies through online research, focus groups, data mining, and monitoring activities.

Digital media – We build digital media solutions as part of a broader strategic approach to communication, marketing and engagement rather than as a stand-alone service. The best social media presence in the world is useless unless it tells the right story to the right people.