The playing field of the Dutch national fire brigade is undergoing drastic changes. Less government support, different flows of funds, regionalisation, new social developments and a shift to a more preventive policy are the factors that play a role in these changes.

These developments demand a great deal from the team, and also require a different type of volunteer. A solid, powerful and effective communications policy that can respond to and express the changing role of the fire brigade is necessary for the years to come.

Shift in responsibility
In addition to the fire brigade’s traditional repressive tasks, the coming years will also see a strong emphasis on its preventive tasks. Repression will always remain an extremely important component, yet this shift in accent for the future is a very conscious choice. The focus in communications will therefore lie explicitly in a further shift in responsibility.   Not only does this start with an awareness of the risks and a sense of responsibility among citizens and businesses, there is also work to be done internally. New parties have also become involved, such as housing corporations and insurance companies. It is important to develop the ability to create connections between the various parties, whereby the fire brigade will go from being a partner in the chain to a true networking partner. During this process of renewal, the fire brigade will have to constantly be aware of the reason it embarked on this journey: to work with others to increase safety in the community, and to create an organisation that meets citizens' expectations.

Communications platform
In addition to the regional, often incidental types of communication, there is also a need for a more centralised management and creation of structurally coordinated communication over a longer period of time.  This communication must emphasise the changing role and the related shift in responsibility to the various target groups. The national fire brigade’s umbrella communications platform (COBRA) asked Total Identity to develop a communications policy plan, in cooperation with all 26 safety regions, for the coming years (2011-2015).
A positioning statement is an accurate expression of the communication objective for the coming years: ‘We want to work on creating more fire safety in the community (fewer fires, fewer victims, less damage) by placing more emphasis on prevention, together with the other partners in the chain, citizens, businesses, and one another.’

Within this context, the national fire brigade acts as part of a network, and sharply defines its own position within this network by claiming a clear role: through structural management and the supply of services, to work on taking an integral approach within the chain of (fire) safety. A communications programme has been created for the coming years.

The first phase of this involves creating a prevention campaign targeting citizens. The conceptual platform for this is based on the ‘Local Heroes’ campaign which communicates the idea that everyone can be a hero with relatively little effort. This campaign capitalises on the shift in responsibility with a strong regional focus which highlights local people and situations. The basic materials tool kit enables every region to translate this concept to the locally relevant (at-risk) target groups.

For more information, please contact Bob van der Lee:


Bob van der Lee
bvdlee@totalidentity.nl