Making intellectual property work for business - World Intellectual ...

More detailed information
on creating a campaign
can be found in:
“The WIPO Guide to
Intellectual Property
Outreach” at www.wipo.int/
export/sites/www/freepublications/en/general/1002/
wipo_pub_1002.pdf.
National IP Offices
Setting up IP services | Raising awareness
Chambers of Commerce
Intermediaries
Government Departments
Universities
Private Businesses
Non-profit Organizations
Business
Owners/Chamber
of Commerce
Members
Communication campaigns: Creating a campaign to raise awareness of IP is
more than just including information in the regular newsletter to members. A planned
outreach strategy will ensure the greatest number of members will be informed about
the issue. While each business membership organization should create a campaign
with their local customs of communication, here are the basic steps to creating an
outreach campaign.
Develop a strategy: The first step is for each business membership to assess
its current outreach efforts. Taking into account past strategies will help set goals for a
new campaign with clearly defined objectives. For example, one such objective could
be to raise awareness about patents and change the perception that they are only of
interest to large corporations. To save on costs, organizations should identify partners
for both raising awareness and for training programmes.
Assess IP knowledge level to formulate an effective message: Once objectives
have been defined, business membership organizations should research the IP
knowledge level of their members in order to formulate an effective message. This
research serves to both identify the various local target groups (as suggested at the
beginning of the chapter) and acts as a benchmark for monitoring the effectiveness of
the campaign.
Develop a communications programme: Once the outreach strategy has
been formulated, the campaign goals decided, the target audience identified and the
appropriate research undertaken, a communications programme can be established.
Objectives for the programme should be set keeping in mind the research conducted
on the audience and the goals of the campaign. Messages should be created for the
various communications channels while ensuring their consistency.
Action and monitoring: The final step in creating a campaign is to put the
plan into action. Utilize different communication methods, depending on available
resources, including websites, electronic newsletters, publications and print material,
public service announcements and videos, media relations, including local newspapers,
designated spokespersons, and benefit from planned events. Business membership
organizations should continue to monitor the effectiveness of the campaign and modify
the plan accordingly to ensure that its goals are being achieved.
A handbook for setting up intellectual property services 25