Foreword.

Excellence in marketing and communications is based on building trust among our customers, our staff and other stakeholders.

Our customers should know what is available to them, how they can access our services and environments, and why we take the decisions we do.

All involved - our stakeholders in the wildest sense - should be able to trust not just what we tell them but also that we will engage meaningfully with them. Building trust and maintaining our reputation enables us to achieve our aims and objectives by taking our stakeholders with us.

The Marketing and Communications Group.

The group sets the framework for delivering marketing and communications functions that are essential to delivery of the Library's overall purposes and strategic aims. This covers all marketing activity and all communications (internal and external, on- and off- line) which should be interpreted in the broadest possible senses.

The Marketing and Communications Group's purpose can be articulated in three key elements:

• To protect and enhance the reputation of the Library.

This requires us to develop a clear sense of what the Library Service is and how we wish to be seen based on the key values identified in the overall library strategy. As in any other organisation, our marketing and communications should be a meaningful engagement with stakeholders - primarily customers and staff - in order to ensure that the Library Service meets and promotes it strategic objectives.

Examples:

• Maintain key messages and data.

• Transparent exchanges with stakeholders at all times.

• Commission external agencies where appropriate.

• Develop a coherent and coordinated approach to marketing and communications.

Excellent communication requires a seamless alignment of the constituent elements: the messages we transmit and their impact, our visual identity (in the widest sense - including how our facilities look in the eyes of service users), the channels we use to communication, and the standard of our customer service. Our approach should be 360° marketing: our activity should be planned, managed and aligned. It is the role of the Marketing and Communications Group to coordinate this alignment.

Examples:

• Evaluate new and existing communication channels in light of current trends.

• Maintain key messages and data.

• Cultivate a library-wide thematic promotional calendar.

• Create an atmosphere of trust and confidence in the Library, its environments and activities.

We must engage regularly with our stakeholders, listening and seeking to encourage dialogue in order to develop the Service and develop its image in the community it serves. We should promote a continuous cycle of research and engagement to develop an informed service provision.

Examples:

• Regular input at Student Staff Committees and Faculty Committees.

• Working with local schools to engage with the wider community.

• Actively seek and use insights gained from e.g. Tell Us What You Think and User Experience exercises.

How do we achieve this?