This document outlines a strategic communications plan to position Ontario's public libraries as vital community assets. The plan aims to increase awareness of libraries' value through data-driven storytelling and relationship building. Key elements include developing an "open news desk" digital hub, producing a documentary highlighting library impacts, and executing a social media and advertising campaign to engage stakeholders and drive advocacy. The goal is to demonstrate libraries' social and economic value in order to grow political and community support.

1. BALANCING BOOKSthe
a social action schema
for Ontario’s public libraries
twinfish productions - AUGUST 2013

2. twinfish productions
PART I
executive summary
2

3. BALANCING BOOKSthe
The objective is to position Ontario’s
libraries as vibrant, vital public
assets such that they are viewed
as an essential public service for all
Ontarians. This perception incites
stakeholder action to grow libraries
as data-driven ‘social-cultural
businesses.’
The strategy reinforces libraries as:
• “social businesses” whose outputs
and outcomes are key driver/
determinants of hyperlocal
economic growth as community
hubs of culture
• as innovators and first-responders
(key service factors attracting in-
migration of first-class talent to a
community)
• as change agents for small
business/entrepreneurial
development, (key to establishing
libraries’ value proposition)
• and as trusted repositories of
community data*
*key to collaboration with 63 small
enterprise Industry-Canada-funded
economic development entities province-
wide
NB: This is a collaborative program
to be shaped and strategized
in consultation with FOPL-OLA
stakeholders throughout the strategy
process.
3
“Positioning
libraries as
mission-
critical
resources
for shared
community
prosperity”

4. twinfish productions
Value
Proposition
Data-driven, intimate, authentic
brand storytelling as change
agents and incitement to
political action, targeting
December 2014 but initiating
sustainable influence networks
to 2015 and beyond the end of
funding for BALANCING THE
BOOKS.
Strategic
Networks
OpenNewsDesk and trust
networks as cornerstones of
sustainable, library-positive
media trust networks across
the province, create ‘open
news desk,’ a digital customer
relations/storytelling/data-
intelligence hub for libraries
province-wide.
The CONNECTION
The
Rationale
Data acquisition is the predicate
for assembling, targeting and
syndicating effective brand
communications- storytellling
which incites political and
community action.
The STORY
4
The
WHY
?
The HOW

5. BALANCING BOOKSthe
5
Stakeholder Takeaway
‘My public library is a treasure-trove
of community value co-creation-
and it’s worth fighting for!’
Metrics & ROI
Phase One (months 1-7) data acquisition
Phase Two (months 8-12) community growth and media bandwidth
Phase Three (months 13-18) ‘social business’ awareness migrates to pro-library
social action metrics

6. • Stakeholder personas
• Network analysis
• Scenario mapping
• Mapping communities of
interest and intersections
of known/unknown brand
storytelling opportunities
FIRST
Steps
twinfish productions6
Brand
Audit
Media
Audit
Content
Audit
SWOT
Analysis

7. BALANCING BOOKSthe
7
Outcome
Objective-based, data-driven marketing
communications plan/strategy
NEXT
Steps
• Including Google and
Facebook advertisements
• Learning-based,
transparent brand
Media
Plan
• Timeline
• Budget
• Outcomes
Strategic Media
Communications Plan
• Capitalizing on the
collective power of
shared story
Branded
Content Plan
+ Staffing
Plan
• Right talent, right place,
right time

8. twinfish productions8
“Editorial
calendar/media
integration across
stakeholder
ecosystem, from
Queens Park
to Atikokan to
Cornwall to
Timmins”
(Addresses regional disparities
as opportunity, not liability).
Technology
Data
Acquisition
Social
Action
Realtime and cumulative
(project-long, evolving
successfully to ongoing)
measurement tools.
Database outputs/outcomes as
predicate for hyperlocal library
value co-creation.
(eg. collaboration with
community enterprise entities
(Federal, provincial, county,
municipal): if we don’t have the
networks, we’ll never have the
advocates.
Measurement of ‘top of mind,’
‘early adopters,’ ‘influencers,’
and cultivation/mobilization of
‘activists.’

9. BALANCING BOOKSthe
9
Big, Hairy
(Audacious) Goals
The
Metrics
How to create and nurture
‘communities of interest’
beyond 2014.
“Big hairy audacious goals”:
where we want Ontario libraries
to be in 2020.
What does success look like?
Sustain-
ability

10. twinfish productions
PART II
strategic
communications
workplan for
10
BALANCING BOOKSthe

11. BALANCING BOOKSthe
• Drive stakeholder awareness
of untapped value of Ontario’s
public libraries, the politics of
community data/small business
development
and
how public libraries are at
once thought leaders and chief
stakeholders in reshaping
Ontario’s economic and cultural
life- thereby ‘balancing the books.”
• Refresh stakeholder memories of
the benefits of public libraries by
reflecting back to Ontarians their
own stories of the measurable
ROI value of the public library as
community change-engines.
11
“Libraries as
community
change-
engines”

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The Power
of Story
12
The
BACKGROUND
• Capitalize on fresh
social and influencer
networks to advocate
for public libraries
• Build community/
FOPL-OLA
communications
infrastructure/
capacity via an ‘open
news desk,’ the ‘life
insurance’ piece for
the Ontario library
system
• A permanent ‘branded
news’ source to ensure
continuous branded
media around the
future of Ontario’s
libraries
• Create reusable media
assets (video and
interactive) for the
‘open news desk,’ to
ensure ‘Balancing the
Books’ is a sustainable
long-term advocacy
campaign
The
Potential
Ontario’s public libraries suffer
from low brand storytelling
profile (inability to market
themselves vibrantly and
compellingly) but, contrariwise-
also boast tremendous pent-up
brand value lying dormant in the
trust networks of stakeholders
in the library ecosystem.
Ontario’s
public libraries’
dormant brand
storytelling value
will be mobilized
via ‘Balancing
the Books’ to
revive the public
library brand
on the bedrock
of measurable
return on
investment
(ROI)

13. BALANCING BOOKSthe
13
Stakeholder views and interests
elicited by multiple stakeholder
interviews and backgrounders on
politics of public libraries and their
value proposition and ‘return on
investment’ (ROI). Two completed
projects conceived and sucessfully
executed by the ‘Balancing the
Books’ team provide provide
cutting-edge ‘proof of concept.’
The 2011 CSIF project for Stratford
Public Library (methodology
slideshow URL at right) libraries’
roles and responsibilities in deep-
dive library stakeholder interviews/
shared storytelling to identify
issues/narratives critical to
mobilizing advocacy and ‘moving
the needle’ politically.
http://www.
nonprofitmarketingblog.com/
comments/when_the_axe_man_
cometh_6_ways_to_save_your_
program_with_story
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=pEwdzz7YDGg#at=10
The
RESEARCH
Primary Research
Experience
Relevant
Links
http://www.slideshare.net/Brenda-
nHowley/csifdatareportv3fopl?utm_
source=slideshowutm_
medium=ssemailutm_

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Create measurable
allegiance to sustainable
funding for public
libraries and effectively
influence political
leaders through
• branded community action
• thought leadership around community data
• small business development
• media mentions/mindshare
Strategic
GOALS

15. Communications
Objectives for
Each Targeted
Audience
BALANCING BOOKSthe
15
AUDIENCEIdentification
All citizens of
ontario
if they trust us, they’ll share their data
...and we can grow the ‘Balancing the Books’
networks via email and mobile
advocacy networks.
Three Salient Outcomes:
• Drive major media mentions of Bal-
ancing the Books from zero to six per
month over next 18 months
• Increase Facebook and Twitter followers
and website visits
by 50x over next 18 months
• Increase accurate and actionable stake-
holder data acquisition for personal
email, personal mobile and personal
landline coordinates
Media Mentions
Facebook/Twitter Followers
Data Acquisition Accuracy
2013: nil
December 2014 (target): 6/month
2013: 300 (average) each library,
each channel
December 2014 (target): 5000
each channel
2013: n/a
December 2014 (target): +5,000
(all ‘Balancing the Books’ participant
members captured + updating stale
data + growing valid data advocacy
database)

16. Key
MESSAGE

17. Key
MESSAGE
BALANCING BOOKSthe
17
FOPL-OLA is facilitating an
extraordinary campaign to
establish the value of libraries
as critical to the future of both
Ontario culture and small
business
meanwhile
co-creating a knowledge
sharing system that brings
measurable, sustainable value
to communities across the
province

18. twinfish productions
PART III
execution strategy
timelines
18

19. BALANCING BOOKSthe
19
This is a collaborative program
to be shaped and strategized in
consultation with FOPL-OLA
stakeholders throughout the
strategy process

20. twinfish productions20
Communications
PROGRAMCritical Path

21. BALANCING BOOKSthe
21
Communications
Program/Vehicle
Target
Audience(s)
Information
Needs
Format Deadline for
Completion
Budget
creative brief/
knowledge article
timeline deliverables
media plan
content plan
prototype content
for all platforms,
communications vehicles
launch
measure
audit + final report
(first draft)
Responsibility
1 2
3 4
stakeholders
stakeholders
stakeholders
stakeholders
stakeholders
stakeholders
stakeholders
stakeholders
document
document
document
document
document
e/blasts, bimonthly
newsletters, video ‘shorts’
website, posters, flyers,
digital/live union boards,
Google Ads, Facebook Ads,
longform
documentary
mission-critical
communications
mission-critical
milestones
15 October 2013 n/a Brendan/team/stakeholders
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
define media targets
strategic
approach
Brendan/team/stakeholders
Brendan/team/stakeholders
Brendan/team/stakeholders
18 October 2013
20 October 2013
22 October 2013
25 October 2013
28 October 2013-
December 15 2014***
15 October/
15 November/
15 December/2013;
15 January 2014-15
n/a
n/a
blow out content
strategy vs timeline
across all channels
design/build content
for all channels
as designed in
collaboration
w/stakeholders
+ team
Brendan/team/stakeholders
Brendan/team/stakeholders
Brendan/team/stakeholders
Brendan/team/stakeholders
vet/analyze/contex-
tualize data across all
channels
benchmark end-states
vs start-states
Google analytics,
Heardable, eCairn,
archived clippings (print);
volume ‘in-the-hand’ collat-
eral given away at branded
live events; volume curated
contributions to ‘open news
desk’
all data categories 15 February 2015 n/a

22. twinfish productions
The
Channels
The communication vehicles to
be utilized to convey messages
and mobilize audiences to fulfill
communication objectives are as
follows:
Digital
Collateral
• Google Ads, Facebook ads
driving traffic to ‘Balancing
the Books’ website off
FOPL-OLA Facebook page
and website
• Public Library’s ‘hero’s
journey’ portrayed in
video interviews posted
to ‘Balancing the Books’
website, Facebook, Twitter
and mobile
• Blog Posts
• Media placements in local,
regional and provincial
venues
Print
Collateral
• Print/PDF flyers distributed
by hand or email @branded
live events
• Unit posters, targeting
specific occupations/
special attitudes
• Annual program calendar
(for 2014/2015 featuring
‘Balancing the Books’
messaging (October 2013,
October 2014)
• E-mail blasts to stakeholder
personal addresses
22
Communication
VEHICLES

23. BALANCING BOOKSthe
23
The
Strategy
The strategy revolves around
the “story” of Public Libraries,
presenting anecdotes of the
human,authentic,movingstories
of Public Libraries and their
staff, their interactions with the
patrons, their families and their
communities, mediated by FOPL-
OLA events (community arts
and culture events, ‘Balancing
the Books’-branded ‘town hall
events’).
Content strategy to emphasize
need to capture current e-mail
addresses, Twitter handles
and mobile numbers of Public
Libraries advocates to support
successful implementation
of ‘Balancing the Books’
communications plan longterm.
Event planning/execution dependent on
FOPL-OLA live events resources.
Content
STRATEGY
brand storytelling angles

24. twinfish productions
PART IV
content strategy
implementation
24

25. BALANCING BOOKSthe 25
A ‘big picture’
communications
timeline

26. TWINFISH Productions12
Communications
PLAN

27. BALANCING BOOKSthe
27
Line Item Cost Notes
long-form documentary
print collateral materials
(flyers, brochures, calendars,
posters)
“proud supporter”
website + microsites
staff: lead; core team
comprises web developer/
graphic designer and project
manager/graphic designer;
social media community
manager
TOTAL COST
$30,000
$20,000
@$2,000 per month
x 10 months
$10,000
@$2,000 per month
x 5 months
$15,000
$145,000
@$8500/month for 10
months
(implementation) +
@$12,000/month for 5
months (startup)
$292,000
one broadcast half-hour (22 minutes) documentary
tracks three (3) to five (5) Public Libraries,
emphasizing the ‘why’ of a Public Library; offered for
local TV broadcast and webcast off ‘Balancing the
Books’ website
support ground campaign and events with “in-the-
hand” materials
launch/manage open appeal to communities to
participate in ‘Balancing the Books’ as volunteer or
advocate or activist w/FOPL-OLA
4 contract positions for 10 months
(implementation); 6 contract positions for
5 months (startup)
September 2013-February 2015
design/implement highly interactive (‘Brita’
-inspired) ‘join the movement’ website, including
multiple data acquisition ‘touchpoints,’ with
emphasis on mobile and mobile-responsive design
Brendan Howley (team lead)
core team web developer/graphic
designer and project manager/graphic
designer; social media community manager;
videographer/branded digital events
www.brita.com/filter-for-good/

28. twinfish productions28
Long form
storytelling
“Hero’s
Journey”
The
Narrative
The long form storytelling ‘arc’
is ‘hero’s journey,’ supported
across all media and media
channels (web, mobile, social,
print, radio/TV broadcast).
The series depicts Public
Libraries staff/advocates/
clients from all FOPL-
OLA catchment areas
interacting with libraries
and their stakeholders (local
entrepreneurs/artists/families).
Six “chapters” of the
“hero’s journey” story
“break out” over a twelve
month period (November
2013-December 2014)
• Reaching the bottom
(‘the impossible
dream’)
• Personal
transformation (‘I can
try’)
• Considering the
adjacent possible
(‘here’s how I’ll try’)
• Merge with possible
futures (‘feeling my
way to success’
• Presenting ideas
to stakeholders
(‘building networks/
alliances’)
• Living the
experiments
(‘learning by failing/
trying again’) -Sets
up next cycle of
challenges in the next
6 month media cycle
The
Subject

29. BALANCING BOOKSthe
29
“Public
libraries are
the future of
community
data... an
untapped
engine of
provincial
prosperity”
• Public libraries as future of community
data (small business intelligence,
‘under the radar’ data/demographics,
untapped engine of provincial
prosperity)
• Public libraries as ‘first responders’
during life crises
• Public librarians as undervalued
‘knowledge workers’ (skillsets devalued
by ‘commodity economy’)
• Public libraries as cutting edge media
labs (collaborative workspaces for
media production)
• Public libraries as members of
‘gift economy’ (give far more than
they receive in commercial market
economy)
• FOPL-OLA as thought leader ‘closest to
the work’, with ‘lock’ on understanding
how libraries actually operate
• Measuring public library ROI and
libraries’ roles in hyperlocal community
prosperity: libraries as prime ‘social
business’ investment
Core
Topics

30. Situational
Analysis
1. What do we already have
that helps us tell this story
(e.g., an existing website,
blog, Facebook page,
Twitter account, corporate
materials, article marketing
effort, etc.)?
2. What must change in order
for us to tell the ‘Balancing
the Books’ story (e.g., do
we need to add a blog,
develop a separate blog,
create or revisit our social
web strategy)?
3. What must stop (if
anything) for us to tell this
aspect of the ‘Balancing
the Books’ story (e.g., do
we need to stop using
Facebookand divert our
energy to an “Balancing the
Books’ blog)
Content
STRATEGY
channel plan
The content strategy
defines the channel
strategy — not the
other way around
Action Plan:
Out of this situational analysis
comes prioritization, budget
allocations, and tactical
approaches to emerging
stories: eg hyperlocal vs
province-wide ‘Balancing the
Books’ storytelling content
strategies as both local and
province-wide storylines evolve
simultaneously)
twinfish productions30

31. BALANCING BOOKSthe
31
Channel
Objectives
Map objectives of the channel
to the engagement cycle: where
are we in the hero’s journey and
which channels best serve this
sequence of storytelling?
Example: Does Facebook
community need new direction
at this point in the brand
storytelling? If yes: how can
blog content drive renewed
interest in Facebook page?
Content
Plan
• Map the media channel to
the larger story structure
by outlining or “beating
out” story turning points as
the Public Library’s ‘hero’s
journey’ evolves;
• These turning points will
be surveys, contests (‘tell
us your best Public Library
story’), mark a milestone or
campaign goal (‘first 1000
Facebook followers’)
• And FOPL-OLA strategic
goals as defined by
emerging stories and
leadership guidance
Metrics
Pure data acquisition target
fulfillment: define the data
objectives that align with the
emerging story.
Example: “with this contest
we’re running on Facebook, our
goal is to get 1,000 subscribers
over the next two months to
share their email and mobile
phone numbers before we move
into the second phase of our
story.”
Action Plan: Action Plan:
“Pure data
acquisition
target
fulfillment:
define
the data
objectives
that align
with the
emerging
story”
Action Plan:

32. twinfish productions
Personas
addressed
Constantly identify and
reidentify which personas
will be addressed by brand
storytelling:
• Rural, remote, urban public
libraries?
• Political influencers?
• Government policy works?
News media?
If personas aren’t being targeted
efficiently by single channel,
split the channel: drive to
Facebook event page or new
Twitter stream.
Content
manage-
ment
process
‘Managing editor’ ensures
method/process manages
content and conversation for
each channel.
Editorial
plan
Map all content and each
channel to global editorial
calendar plan. The purpose of
the editorial plan is to define
velocity, tone, desired action,
and structure for the content for
a given channel (eg email versus
blog)
Example: planning to define
‘Balancing the Books’ Facebook
channel characteristics in
support of ‘hero’s journey’
overall brand storytelling
32
Action Plan: Action Plan: Action Plan: VELOCITY:
Three posts per day
TONE:
Authentic, emotional ‘working
library’/‘here’s the value’ calls-to-action
DESIRED ACTION:
We want audience to click through to the
‘Balancing the Books’ blog
STRUCTURE:
10 to 20-word Facebook post, plus pictures
(if applicable) and a “conversion link.”
Sample
Facebook
process

33. 14
as detailed in grid
above: hard metrics
against
• Audience awareness (relevant mentions of ‘Balancing the
Books’ in monitored online conversations: print, blogs,
Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit, Tumblr)
• Media mentions (relevant mentions in unearned media:
print, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit, Tumblr)
• Growth social media mentions, interactivity and social
media mentions of community action (surveys, polls,
fundraising, volunteer tracking)
• Community action (grow FOPL-OLA/’Balancing the Books’
volunteer and “proud supporter” base)
• Data acquisition: growth of FOPL-OLA email/mobile
smartphone database
• Audience attendance at live events
• Audit collateral given away at live events
• ‘Balancing the Books’ enquiries from members regarding
any/all aspects ‘Balancing the Books’ events/initiatives/
media
Evaluation
GUIDEPOSTS
BALANCING BOOKSthe
33

34. Dan
Bowman
twinfish productions35
Dan Bowman has been producing
video, live events and interactive
media for Fortune 500 companies
for longer than he cares to admit.
Bilingually educated in Montreal
and Paris, he has a degree in
Communications from Concordia.
Dan’s passion is travel photography;
he’s trekked through dozens of
countries, each more remote than the
last. He lives in a warren-like Victorian
house in Toronto with his opera-
director wife.
www.danielbowman.com
Maureen distills the brand essence,
designs and executes superb website
content, plans marketing campaigns,
and creates and curates social media
content and provides training on using
social media effectively.
An award-winning writer/editor in
print, radio and social media, Maureen
helps brands effectively communicate
who they are, their values, their goals
and their stories through social, digital
and traditional media.
Maureen’s media experience spans
more than 20 years
in (The Globe
and Mail, Maclean’s Magazine and
branded content magazines) and
national broadcast media (CBC
Radio), where she produced CBC
Radio programming in Canada’s three
biggest media markets: Montréal,
Toronto and Vancouver.
Maureen
Argon
The
TEAM
Andrea is a multidisciplinary design
branding strategist rooted in fostering
authenticity through design. She is
a typographer and graphic designer
striving to engage the disengaged.
With experience in design and
creative direction for a variety of
high-profile events and clients
including TEDxRyersonU, Ryerson
Rams Athletics and Town Shoes, she
believes in the catalytic power of
design to change the way we perceive
our world.
Hailing from the heart of Toronto,
Canada, she is a lover of fashion,
art, and culture, and received her
education at Ryerson University where
she earned a Bachelor of Design
(BDes.) minor in entrepreneurship.
Andrea
Crofts

35. Brendan
Howley
A multiaward-winning branded
content strategist/creator, data
journalist/technologist Brendan
Howley specializes in marketing
communications that incite social
action.
Recent projects include raising
$425,000 via social media marketing
to microfinance an artisanal dairy,
preserving funding for a trio of rural
libraries, and has co-inventing a
new discovery engine, CHO7R, in
partnership with the San Francisco
startup Square Zero, in development
with Thomson-Reuters’ Zurich media
lab.
A thrice-published novelist, Brendan
grew up in the shadow of a Carnegie
library as an IBM brat in Poughkeepsie
NY; today he lives, together with his
Russian-Canadian wife, three children
and six cats, just down the hill from
Stratford, Ontario’s Carnegie library.
35
Emilia
Dallman
Emilia prides herself on her capability
to see the vision for the final aesthetic
product in complete tandem with
a rock solid strategic plan for
implementation.
She excels at organization and has
insatiable appetite for storytelling in
all its forms, including short films,
photography and digital marketing.
Originally from Stratford, Ontario,
Emilia knows the power a small-town
library has to provide solace, culture
and perspective to a young mind.
Currently residing in Toronto, she is
completing her final year at Ryerson
University where she will graduate
with a Bachelor of Design.
The
TEAM
BALANCING BOOKSthe
36

36. BALANCING BOOKSthe
37
THANK YOU.
@brendanhowley
226.880.1449
inkfish@wightman.ca

37. BALANCING BOOKSthe
© 2013 twinfish productions
The content of this document is the intellec-
tual property of twinfish productions.