Creative Comms on a shoestring – with Ginette Unsworth: PR in the Real World

From local government to national dog fouling campaigns, from fax machines and carrier pigeons to the horse meat scandal – this episode of PR in the Real World has it all. Ginette Unsworth is the Director of Comms at the University of Central Lancashire and an experienced communicator. Ginette’s CV shows a knack for storytelling and delivering impact on a shoestring budget. Whether you’re managing an internal comms machine or trying to spark cultural shifts on minimal spend, this episode is a must listen.

Crisis Comms: plan don’t predict

The specifics of a crisis usually aren’t foreseen – nobody anticipated a horsemeat scandal or a worldwide pandemic. But crisis readiness isn’t about prediction, it’s about responsiveness. In public sector roles especially, crises aren’t a rare event – they’re part of the day job. That means agile systems, confident teams, and clear messaging pipelines matter as much as the crisis plan itself. The takeaway here is plan less for specific scenarios and more for speed and clarity under pressure.

Low Budget, High Impact

Is necessity the mother of invention? The best ideas often come from boldness not big budgets. Don’t try to run your campaigns on a low budget for the sake of fostering creativity – but don’t make the mistake of thinking a budget alone will get you across the line. Any effective campaign needs to understand the why behind it’s mission where it’s audience is. Budgets big or small – prioritise creative cut through.

Insight is ammo

Relevant insights are the foundation of an impactful campaign. Whether it’s behavioural insights or to illuminate where your audience can be reached, having this understanding means your campaigns aren’t launched in the dark. This doesn’t mean you have to spend big bucks on market research, even free tools like Google analytics can be leveraged for free. Start with thoughtful insights and your campaign messaging will be sharper.

Stories hide – go and find them

When you’re fronting the comms for a big organisation, especially in the public sector, lots of time goes to firefighting. Balancing reactive comms needs with proactive storytelling is a challenge. Don’t let this make comms teams complacent to the potential wellspring of stories going on underneath their nose in their organisations that can be used for proactive campaigns. As PR and comms professionals it’s your job to unearth them. There’s nothing worse than coming across a great story too late. Having time for proactive messaging can also lessen the demand for reactionary messaging in the future.

Media relations: the long game

Successful media relationships aren’t built on the go in a crisis – they’re earned over time. Being helpful, timely, and trustworthy goes a long way. Journalists remember the comms professionals who understand deadlines, provide reliable information, and only pitch when something is genuinely newsworthy. It’s not about blasting out press releases but being a consistent, credible source. If when you get that relationship right, reporters will come to you. This trust and credibility is an invaluable currency in a crisis or when trying to maximise impact.

• Crisis comms is about speed and clarity — not predicting the crisis, but preparing to respond.
• Bold ideas beat big budgets — creative cut-through matters more than spend.
• Start with insight — even free tools can sharpen your message and improve targeting.
• Proactive storytelling matters — dig for hidden stories before they disappear.
• Strong media relationships are built over time — be reliable, relevant, and ready.