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Real Communications director Gina McKenzie believes in providing more of a human approach to her story telling. Management | Real Communications Creating positive change Real Communications is focused on sharing the personal side of a business, which involves looking at the motivations behind the business, the passion, and reasons why someone started a business. Gina has found that the motivation for starting a new venture is often very personal and being able to share these vulnerabilities can be very empowering, as it enables the business to connect with clients or customers on a deeper level. Along with having a more personal approach, Real Communications takes the time to really listen to their clients and to develop an ongoing connection with them, while ensuring that their values align. “We only work with clients who are doing something positive to create positive change in the community and who treat their employees fairly.” Establishing her business in 2016, Gina has done a lot of memorable work, but a project that stands out to her is the four years she spent working with Environment Canterbury on Plan Change 7 (PC7) in Waimakariri. “We went out into the community and created a series of videos of people from different cultural backgrounds and age groups, and looked at what water means to them. “Our aim was to get a more diverse range of people to come along to these meetings and share their views.” “People from all sorts of backgrounds came to the meetings. We had farmers, lifestyle block owners, new migrants, students, environmentalists, scientists and council staff,” Gina says. “Originally there was a lot of anger in the room due to so many opposing views, but once the “At Real Communications we are passionate about harnessing the power of positive storytelling to drive social change. “Based in North Canterbury we work with a broad client base in Christchurch and Canterbury, along with nationwide clients. These clients cover a range of industries from local government through to construction, IT, education providers, exporters, healthcare providers, patent law firms and non-profits. “We choose to work with clients who share our values of actively supporting their local communities and taking action to create positive change.” “To help a business to reach their target audience and to really understand who they’re trying to reach, we spend a lot of time brainstorming together, and coming up with a communications and marketing plan.” - Real Communications director Gina McKenzie Her company’s business model focuses on positive story-telling and giving organisations a platform to share their story in a real and authentic way, while providing more of a personal approach. “We’ve got a strong focus on positive communication; rather than telling stories about what’s going wrong, we prefer to highlight the positive changes that people, and businesses are making to improve their communities.” The company offers clients a wide range of services, with their main focus being communications and marketing strategy. “To help a business to reach their target audience and to really understand who they’re trying to reach, we spend a lot of time brainstorming together, and coming up with a communications and marketing plan,” Gina says. The plan helps clients increase their sales, connect with their target audience, and meet with the people that they need to connect with to give them an authentic voice. “Often, I have found that people want to get the word out about their business, but they’re just doing random things without a clear direction or strategy to guide them. “For example, someone will call them with an advertising opportunity and the business owner agrees without considering if the publication is read by their target audience and then they don’t get a return on their investment.” videos were played and everyone started seeing that we all want the same thing, there was a change in people’s attitudes.” Along with sharing positive stories of people’s businesses, Gina has also been working on a series of complementary profiles on local businesses called Business Outside the Box. The profiles which have been featured in New Zealand Business Magazine and in local media outlets help inspire business owners who have been impacted by COVID-19. As well as Business Outside the Box, Gina also hosts a monthly radio show called Thrive - Inspiring Women on Plains FM. “Each month I interview someone and it’s a great opportunity to give everyday people a chance to tell their story. We celebrate ordinary women who are doing amazing things behind the scenes. “It’s a real privilege to share stories of businesses, projects and organisations; to delve deeper into an organisation or a business and uncover a unique story which makes them stand out from the crowd.” Real Communications Gina McKenzie Director 022 355 7601 [email protected] www.realcommunications.co.nz “ ”
