About Daniel Deutsch
Daniel is a communications consultant with more than 15 years’ experience across strategic communications and advertising.
His approach combines the best off both worlds - merging an understanding of reputation, issues and stakeholders, with an ability to engage audiences in creative and compelling ways across channels.
Daniel’s experience ranges across corporate strategy and positioning; brand strategy; narrative and message development; creative communications development; campaigning; stakeholder, media and government engagement; internal communications and change management; issues management and crisis communications.
He has worked extensively on education, government, transport & infrastructure, and energy sectors, and has experience in financial services, maritime, gaming, alcohol and defence.
Case studies from Daniel’s time
working at SEC Newgate
Teacher transition
Activities: Announcement communications plan, Stakeholder Engagement
Challenge: A teacher at a well-known Catholic school decided to transition to identify as a female. The school wanted to announce this in a way that respected the diverse views of the community.
Solution: I developed a strategy focused on keeping the announcement a “community issue” and help the community work through it in a respectful way. The community was encouraged to accept the tension regarding Catholic values of pastoral support and the Church’s teachings on the distinction between men and women, and to have respectful and open dialogue.
Impact: The announcement was successful, with the issue staying within the community and not reported on by the media. The community was broadly accepting of the announcement, and the teacher felt supported to be able to continue working at the school.
MACS 2030
Activities: Corporate Strategy, Brand Strategy Development, Communications Plan Development, Stakeholder Engagement
Challenge: Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) owns and operates around 300 schools in Victoria. In 2022, they developed their inaugural long-term corporate strategy, MACS 2030: Forming Lives to Enrich the World. MACS wanted to bring the strategy to life and promote it to their audiences.
Solution: I developed a brand for the new strategy focused on MACS’s purpose and then wrote a narrative for the MACS2030 strategy document. With the strategy complete, I developed a comprehensive communications plan that allowed MACS to convey key messages about the strategy incrementally over the campaign period.
Impact: The strategy was well-received by internal and external stakeholders and continues to be implemented by MACS.
Investment NSW Brand
Activities: Brand strategy, brand hierarchy corporate positioning, Stakeholder Engagement
Challenge: Investment NSW was a newly established NSW Government super agency responsible for attracting business investment, tourists and migrants. The super agency brought several other agencies under one umbrella and needed its own brand.
Solution: I engaged stakeholders from different agency branches to understand what they felt the brand needed to convey considering the agency’s services, culture and client needs. I developed a brand strategy and positioning for the agency considering market and societal dynamics. I then provided advice on how best to restructure the agencies portfolio of sub-brands underneath the master brand.
Impact: The brand and hierarchy were well-received by all internal stakeholders and political decision makers. The brand continues to be used by the NSW Government.
Investment NSW, NSW Prospectus Strategy
Activities: Positioning Strategy, Stakeholder Engagement, Positioning
Challenge: The NSW Government wanted to develop high quality prospectus materials to promote the state and its industry sectors to potential investors.
Solution: I undertook comprehensive internal engagement with subject matter experts across Investment NSW as well as potential investors across opportunity sectors. I also undertook a review of prospectus materials around the world to establish a “best in class” benchmark. I then wrote a prospectus development strategy covering content, structure and design.
Impact: The strategy was endorsed by both internal and external stakeholders and used by the agency to develop a suite of prospectus materials across multiple sectors.
Roads and Maritime Services, Activity Based Working transformation
Activities: Transformation Communications, Internal Communications, Stakeholder Engagement, Campaigns
Challenge: The former Roads and Maritime Services agency planned to transform their building from a traditional layout to an Activity Based Working environment. The 1000+ staff responded to the initial announcement with concern and resistance.
Solution: I developed an internal communications strategy that aimed to:
counter misinformation being spread about the transformation
shift negative perceptions of the transformation and Activity Based Working
provide staff with information to make them feel more at ease
assist with project logistics
I then implement the strategy developing numerous campaigns and communications including a project intranet site, an ‘on-the-ground’ staff group of project supporters known as the ‘Change Champions’, and a cultural guide to help staff settle into the new office.
Impact: Staff perceptions shifted towards favourability and the new ways of working were established and continue to be used.
Endeavour Energy, corporate purpose statement development
Activities: Corporate Positioning, Stakeholder Engagement
Challenge: Endeavour Energy was trying to transition to a more customer-centric way of operating and wanted a new purpose statement to reflect this direction.
Solution: I led a corporate positioning process which culminated in the development of a new corporate purpose statement. The process included workshops with executives and other relevant people within the business, employee engagement via mass engagement channels and creative writing.
Impact: Due to the success of this process, I was asked to run a corporate strategy and brand development process for Endeavour Energy and its partners in a Western Sydney Aerotropolis MOU.
Endeavour Energy, Storms and Bushfire campaign
Activities: Public Awareness Campaign
Challenge: Endeavour Energy has one of the most bushfire and storm prone network areas in the entire country. They must engage their customers each year as summer approaches and storms and bushfires become more frequent.
Solution: I developed an education campaign to inform customers about what they needed to do to prepare for the season and what they needed to do if they were caught up in a storm or bushfire. The campaign spanned owned and paid (social and radio) media and grabbed attention with irreverent writing and snappy design.
Impact: A highly engaging campaign, the advertising was well-received by customers and met all its social media goals.
