Corporate Communications

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communications department

All About the Communications Department

The Corporate Communications Department reports directly into the Chief Administrative Officer and is responsible for the continued development, implementation and maintenance of the corporate internal and external communication plan and media relations. We are committed to providing open, clear and timely information with citizens, employees and members of the media.

The Communications Department also provides strategic counsel and support to all departments throughout the Town of Cobourg to ensure communication goals are met. The Corporate Communications Department provides integrated support focused on the following areas:

Strategic planning
Media relations and advertising
Online communications including the Town's municipal website, employee intranet and social media strategies
Corporate identity/brand and the preparation of promotional materials
Emergency communications
Graphic design
Print production
Writing/editing
Outreach event logistics

Responsibilities

Strategic Communications Planning

Strategic communications planning involves the creation of a comprehensive communications plan for your project or program that identifies key messages, channels and distribution methods.

The Department works across the entire organization, and closely with the CAO and Directors to develop strategic communication plans for larger projects or ongoing communication messages.

Some examples include the Armistice18 commemoration festival, Waterfront User Needs & Detailed Design Assessment, Venture13 Innovation and the Entrepreneurship Centre launch, Downtown Vitalization Business Attraction Marketing Campaign 'Start Here' and the Cultural Master Plan to name a few.

Website Management

We ensure accessibility, consistency of tone and voice, accuracy and readability of the Town of Cobourg's Municipal website www.cobourg.ca

All updates, changes and additions to the website are managed through the Communications Department. Please complete a Website request.

Graphic Design

To keep the Town of Cobourg's brand and visual identity intact, we work with a variety of graphic designer and creative services agencies. The Communications Department designs everything from postcards and flyers to large-scale banners, wraps and signage, program logos, online/digital graphics and more.

If you would like to be included in our Creative Services rolodex please email communications@cobourg.ca.

Internal (Employee) Communications

The Communications Department also manages Internal Employee Communications.

Writing/Copyediting

It’s important that all of our written communications are clear, concise and represent the tone and voice of the Town of Cobourg. To ensure consistency, we offer centralized writing/copyediting services. This includes everything from writing copy for websites, a poster or social media.

Photography

We often look to our talented citizens and resident photographers to capture photographs of our Town. We also hire photographers for our many events. If you would like to submit your name for hire please email communications@cobourg.ca

Videos

The Communications Department utilizes the production of sizzle videos for a variety of campaigns.

View our latest promotional videos:

Armistice18 - Canada's Largest Commemoration of the WWI Centennial
Start Here Downtown Business Marketing Attraction campaign
Venture13 - Eastern Ontario's Newest Innovation & Entrepreneurship Centre

Outreach Event Logistics

The Communications Department also organizes and manages all media and publicity events on behalf of the Town of Cobourg.

Digital Communications

Social Media:

We continue to have great success keeping citizens informed with updates across all our social media platforms. Click on any one of the below platforms to follow, like or subscribe:

e-Newsletters:

We are currently looking into a monthly e-newsletter. Stay tuned!

Digital Display Slides:

In addition to creating visually appealing and effective digital display slides, we can help you get them up across the Town of Cobourg. We have relationships with many organizations across Cobourg, including the Public Library, Marie Dressler Museum, Cobourg Community Centre, Venture13 Innovation & Entrepreneurship Centre, Market Building and more.

Communication Projects & Campaigns

The Communications Department is committed to providing citizens with information and updates on Town news and works hard to ensure citizens are kept informed. Here are a few key projects we are working on currently:

Internal Communications - This is Cobourg Campaign

We are actively working on our This is Cobourg campaign, an internal communications campaign that recognizes all of the great work carried out by staff. It also serves as a public education campaign that will help share all of this good news to our citizens. The campaign utilizes an infographic – a content marketing tool that conveys information in a visually appealing and succinct way.

The campaign will highlight one department each month and will look to gather information that is not widely known to the public.

Check out the department's higlighted so far:

How We Are Promoting the Campaign
Each month we will promote the campaign in a number of ways:

• Council Meeting Presentation (broadcasted on YouTube)
• Publication for a month in our Weekly Ad Block in Northumberland News
• Transit Ads (back of the buses)
• Website Homepage publication
• Social Media Mentions (Facebook, Twitter & Instagram)

More about the This is Cobourg Campaign
The inspiration behind the campaign came from a number of ‘feel good’ stories being shared at staff management meetings. Among those stories were mentions of national campaigns, awards and nominations, cost savings, federal and municipal grants being received, accolades from citizens and organizations, successful partnerships, mentorship and employment opportunity wins, new initiatives and project launches and much more.

Communications Manager Ashley Purdy began exploring ways in which the Town can communicate all of this good news to our citizens. The goal of the campaign has always been to engage citizens by turning the subject matter into a captivating experience and concluded that an infographic would be the perfect communication tool to do just that. Infographics are a popular form of content marketing that help to convey information, data or knowledge quickly and clearly. Infographics also work to improve cognition by utilizing graphics to enhance the human visual systems ability to see patterns and trends.

Read the press release.

Weekly Newspaper Ad Block

To help distribute news on Town events, projects, initiatives, public meetings and more we utilize a full-sized ad in Northumberland News called an 'Ad Block'.

Check out our latest Weekly Ad Blocks:

Keep informed

There are a number of ways in which residents can keep informed with what's happening in Cobourg by reading our press releases and public notices and signing up for many eNewsletters.

Social media

We also encourage you to keep the lines of communication open by connecting with us on social media. You can find us on the following social media outlets:

Subscribe to any or all of the following eight items to receive notification of new postings:

Community news
Emergency and Weather Updates
Job postings
Parks and Field Closures
Press releases
Public meetings and notices
Road closures
Service disruptions
Snow clearing updates

Members of the Media

If you are a member of the media looking for more information, please contact the Communications Manager Ashley Purdy by calling 905-372-4301 ext. 4105 or emailing apurdy@cobourg.ca.