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Reach the Right People
Communications built around your work, your audiences and what you want to achieve.
Good work does not automatically find its audience. People may not know it exists, may not understand its significance, or may simply have too many competing demands for their attention. Effective communication begins with understanding what you want to achieve, who you need to reach and what will make your work relevant to them.
Zeugma works with scientists, research organizations, musicians, authors, professionals and communications teams across industries. Some clients need help developing a communications approach; others need someone to turn that approach into actual work. Depending on the need, we can advise, develop strategies and plans, write and produce materials, work with media, distribute communications and help execute campaigns or other communications activities.
The work is tailored to the client rather than built around a fixed package. An independent musician preparing a release may need a very different approach from a scientist trying to communicate specialized research to non-expert audiences, or a communications team looking for additional capacity on a particular project.
Our approach also recognizes that communication is not simply a matter of producing content and putting it into digital channels. Direct conversations, professional relationships, networks and other forms of human-to-human communication can be critical to reaching the right people. Understanding the work itself is equally important: communications are more useful when they reflect the substance, priorities and circumstances behind them.
The objective is therefore not visibility for its own sake. It is to help clients communicate clearly, reach relevant audiences and create opportunities for people to understand, engage with and act on their work.
Connect Across Borders
Communications strategy and practical support for teams connecting organizations with the world
Communications teams help organizations explain their work, engage different audiences and maintain relationships across institutional, cultural and geographic boundaries. This is particularly important for international organizations, research institutions and development-focused organizations, whose work may span countries, disciplines and communities. But even capable teams can struggle to make their communications as effective as they need to be. Priorities change, resources are limited, responsibilities evolve, and established approaches may no longer fit the organization’s needs.
Zeugma works with communications teams to build, strengthen or rethink their approach. A new or developing team may need help establishing its direction, setting priorities and translating plans into action. An established team may benefit more from an external assessment and targeted improvements to its existing work. In other cases, a major organizational restructuring or the need to rebuild a communications strategy may call for a more fundamental reassessment.
The work begins with understanding the organization’s objectives, the communications team’s role, the audiences it needs to reach and the resources available. From there, Zeugma helps identify priorities and develop an approach suited to the situation. Depending on the assignment, support can include strategic advice, communications planning, message development, audience engagement, writing and production, media work, distribution and hands-on implementation. The balance between advice and delivery depends on the team’s needs and the scope of the engagement.
Not every communications challenge calls for a major overhaul. Sometimes a few well-chosen changes can make an existing approach more useful. Broader change, however, may require a clear organizational mandate and the involvement of senior decision-makers. Zeugma can contribute an independent perspective, communications expertise and practical support while working within the organization’s decision-making structures and priorities.
The aim is to help communications teams make deliberate choices about how they work, where they focus their efforts and how they connect the organization with the people it needs to reach. The result should be an approach that is not only well conceived, but practical to implement and suited to the organization’s circumstances.
Research Communications
Research Communications Across the Project Lifecycle
Research needs communication capacity
Major research projects generate communications needs that can exceed the practical capacity of an institution’s central communications team. This is not necessarily a question of expertise. Staffing, budgets, competing priorities and the scale of individual projects can limit the attention available to support research teams throughout their work.
Zeugma works with research labs, principal investigators and project teams, including those involved in research for development. The aim is to provide dedicated communications support that reflects the substance of the research, the audiences it needs to reach and the requirements of the institutions and funders involved.
Communication starts before the findings
Communications planning often comes too late. Researchers may focus on sharing findings once a project is nearing completion, even though effective communication can depend on understanding the work from an earlier stage, identifying milestones and anticipating opportunities to engage different audiences along the way.
Zeugma can support communications during grant development, including the preparation of communications sections and plans that respond to funder requirements. These requirements can be specific and should be researched and addressed in the proposal, rather than left until a project is underway. Proposal-stage support can be a stand-alone assignment or the starting point for a longer engagement if funding is awarded. Teams can also bring Zeugma into an existing project at an early or later stage.
From planning to delivery
A communications plan needs to be workable, not simply well written. Zeugma helps research teams identify audiences, set priorities, develop messages and determine the channels and activities best suited to their objectives. As projects progress, communications can be adapted to reflect milestones, emerging findings and opportunities to engage audiences.
Depending on the assignment, work can include writing and producing content, publications and digital materials, media outreach, events and other communications activities. Zeugma can deliver work directly and coordinate specialist professionals when a project requires capabilities such as film production or event organization. The approach is shaped by the project, rather than restricted to a fixed set of in-house services.
Working with institutional communications
External support should complement the institution’s communications function, not compete with it. Zeugma coordinates with relevant institutional teams and follows applicable guidance, standards, templates, formats and messaging requirements. This helps keep project communications aligned with institutional priorities while giving the research team dedicated attention to its specific needs.
Documenting results and building toward what comes next
Communications reporting can do more than list activities and outputs. Where appropriate, it can document the audiences reached, engagement generated, lessons learned and broader outcomes associated with the work. These categories should be distinguished: evidence of communications activity or reach is not the same as evidence of research uptake or measurable impact.
A clear record of communications and results can help teams report to funders, identify what worked and strengthen subsequent proposals or follow-on projects. Where evidence supports it, documented uptake and other outcomes can also help demonstrate the wider value of the research.
Support suited to the project
Not every research team needs a full communications program. Some need help with a grant proposal,