With a population of 175,000, the borough of Wokingham lies in the English county of Berkshire and includes the historic market town of Wokingham, as well as the area between Reading, Henley, Bracknell and Camberley.

Wokingham Borough Council selected us to help it improve its brand reputation based on our experience in advising local government bodies as well as private sector businesses, and the clarity of our proposed approach.

What we did

Our project was closely linked with the Council’s ‘Customer Excellence Programme’ to improve its interaction with residents, as well as on-going work to improve its community services.

During an eight-month period, we:

  • facilitated a series of lively workshop sessions with the Council’s Leader, Cabinet members, CEO, directors and its communications and marketing team – exploring the organisation’s strengths and weaknesses, resident relationships, communications activities and long term vision
  • conducted a survey of residents’ views
  • carried out an employee poll, and
  • undertook an audit of the organisation’s existing communications and marketing

Results 

Analysing the output from the various strands of the project, we summarised our findings and set out our recommendations in a detailed project report.

We concluded, for example, that the Council produces a high volume and standard of external and internal communications. And this is reflected by how well informed residents feel about the local authority’s activities, and how employees feel proud to work for the organisation.

At the same time, we highlighted that residents feel much less involved in local decision making and hold mixed views about the Council, while employees highlighted two major areas for internal improvement.

Our exercise uncovered many points which could be addressed, but we focused on four priority recommendations for action. These related to the Council’s vision and human face, its communications strategy, its resident engagement approach and its website.

The local authority is following up on these actions to make long term improvements to its brand reputation.

The client’s view

“TK Associates brought real intelligence and perception to the project. What impressed us most is the way they quickly got an understanding of the Council – our aspirations and issues –  and shone an insightful light on ways we can develop.

“They worked well with elected councillors and officers to build this understanding, but also challenged our self-perception to provide an honest assessment that will guide our brand and reputation work in the future.”

David Allen, Communications, Engagement & Marketing Manager, Wokingham Borough Council

 

See more on our work with local government organisations.