Round 2 public consultation

Managing and delivering a major public consultation process

Now we’re really moving

Many lessons learned in the first round consultation were acted upon in round two. This time we were involved in the communications planning process and were invited to rethink the engagement strategy.

The big picture

We brought our professional expertise as communicators to the Crossrail team and delivered insights that engineers could never be expected to unearth. The key questions for us were, how do we connect with an audience already bombarded by messages and excite them about the project? And how can we reduce the amount of information while still communicating the essential facts.

Build a brand

We updated the brand. We commissioned a photo library. We designed information panels for public display that could be read and understood in under two minutes. We designed visitor centres at major transport hubs, a microsite for the public, brochures, press ads, leaflets and more.

Open to all

We worked in eighteen community languages, braille, easy read and audio. We worked round the clock to make the brand come alive. We worked to make Crossrail a certainty, but a certainty that people could influence.

On the road

Information materials were distributed and a travelling exhibition was held at twenty-six locations, for two days at each, along the proposed route of the railway.

Over 70,000 homes received invitations to the consultation events. And each venue was publicised through local posters and targeted advertising in local and London wide media. The result was that the second round of consultation reached more people than the first.

’It has proved to be a great success’

Norman Haste, Crossrail CEO, October 2004

Now we’re really moving

Many lessons learned in the first round consultation were acted upon in round two. This time we were involved in the communications planning process and were invited to rethink the engagement strategy.

The big picture

We brought our professional expertise as communicators to the Crossrail team and delivered insights that engineers could never be expected to unearth. The key questions for us were, how do we connect with an audience already bombarded by messages and excite them about the project? And how can we reduce the amount of information while still communicating the essential facts.

Build a brand

We updated the brand. We commissioned a photo library. We designed information panels for public display that could be read and understood in under two minutes. We designed visitor centres at major transport hubs, a microsite for the public, brochures, press ads, leaflets and more.

Open to all

We worked in eighteen community languages, braille, easy read and audio. We worked round the clock to make the brand come alive. We worked to make Crossrail a certainty, but a certainty that people could influence.

On the road

Information materials were distributed and a travelling exhibition was held at twenty-six locations, for two days at each, along the proposed route of the railway.

Over 70,000 homes received invitations to the consultation events. And each venue was publicised through local posters and targeted advertising in local and London wide media. The result was that the second round of consultation reached more people than the first.

’It has proved to be a great success’

Norman Haste, Crossrail CEO, October 2004