Research is a critical part of understanding the issues that impact our clients. Employing qualitative and quantitative research techniques, we probe the public's point of view to find the key intersection between their values and priorities and our client’s goals. The values intersection is at the heart of the most effective communications messages and methods.

Using research to harness and direct the power of communication, we counsel our clients to help them effectively navigate the public policy terrain of community organizations, opinion leaders, the media, elected officials, and government agencies.


Focus groups are often an essential starting point for exploring public perceptions about a client or issue. Our research approach also includes work with some of the top political and market research polling firms in the country. In virtually every case, careful research is the foundation for successful strategic communications plans.

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Assessing client needs is an on-going process and can change even as a project is underway. At Gogerty Marriott, we maintain a flexible approach to every problem with an eye on one thing: a successful outcome. As an independent firm, we’ve found some clients require disciplines Gogerty Marriott does not provide internally, and we need to assemble an All Star team of staff and outside consultants to bring the best to bear on a problem.

We’ve worked with many of the best firms in the areas of creative media, online development and communication and quantitative or qualitative research. Our strong relationships have yielded great work, and the results for our clients show it.

In 2009, the Association of Political Consultants and Public Affairs Professionals awarded the team members the Pollie Award for the Best Public Affairs Campaign of the Year for work on The Pickens Plan.

Some of our partnerships include:

Television, Radio

Joe Slade White

In dozens of major campaigns over nearly three decades, the Gogerty Marriott firm has turned to Joe Slade White to bring to life client stories, values and objectives. From the baseball and football stadium initiatives in Washington State to the current campaigns of AT&T and the Pickens Plan, JSW & Co. have been the media firm of choice for Gogerty Marriott.

Joe Slade White has won more "Pollies" than any other media consultant – a winner at the very first Pollie Awards Ceremony in 1982, JSW & Co. won 8 more in 2009 alone. This year’s award winning ads included work for long time client Vice President Joseph Biden, The Pickens Plan, and for the upset statewide initiative victory for Stem Cell Research in Michigan.

To learn more about Joe Slade White & Co. and his team, go to www.jswco.com

New Media, Print/Mail

Mercury

When the campaign strategy calls for an online presence, a viral video, social media, or a strong print campaign to reach a targeted audience, Gogerty Marriott works with Seattle’s Mercury Group.

With a client base varying from Fortune 50 companies, to non-profits, to political campaigns and labor unions, Mercury possesses the agile approach and diverse experience clients appreciate, and have built a long track record of success in battles at every level.

Research

Listening is the cornerstone of the Gogerty Marriott strategic approach to message development. The research professionals who support our work have talked with thousands of people in conversations to find the intersection where public values cross client objectives. Our research partnerships span decades and have been a critical part of every significant campaign we have undertaken for our clients.

Hart Research

Peter Hart and the team at Hart Research are one of the premier firms of public opinion research in the country, and have worked with Gogerty Marriott on key clients for nearly two decades.

Mr. Hart was named to The National Journal's list 150 national leaders who shape federal government policy. Beginning in 1989, he partnered with the late Robert Teeter to do polling for NBC News and The Wall Street Journal, and continues to do so today with Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies.

Peter and his team are nationally renowned for asking the right questions, framing issues in succinct language and presenting findings with expert analysis that allows clients to find the answers they are seeking. www.hartresearch.com

JKM Research

Jane Malbon of JKM Research has been conducting qualitative research for over twenty years. Her keen sense of public attitudes, opinions, motivations and behaviors about specific public policy issues, candidates, corporate reputation, and campaign messaging has yielded findings critical to successful outcomes even when conventional wisdom said success wasn’t possible.

Gogerty Marriott clients have consistently found that Jane’s reassuring presence while conducting a focus group elicits information, attitudes and trends that others might overlook, and her experience interpreting results and providing guidance to clients is unfailingly accurate and astute.

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There isn't much time for a learning curve when achieving business goals involves complex public policy decisions. The partners and senior practitioners at Gogerty Marriott have the expertise to navigate the often complex and fractious public affairs landscape. From analyzing research to coalition building and targeted messaging, Gogerty Marriott’s campaign-style approach has proven effective in handling every shade of public policy challenges from local levels to Washington D.C.

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Clients count on us to help them craft the right strategies and messages to communicate in ways that resonate with key audiences. We have a proven, research-driven approach to communication that makes things happen. Some areas of communication include:

Editorial Support: Media plans are designed to get the most benefit from clients' positive stories about their business, project or issue and to limit the negative impacts of bad news or controversy. They often include guidance on assembling and writing of media briefing kits, training of key spokespeople and assistance in coordinating interviews and editorial board briefings.

Litigation Support: When a company comes under legal fire, the stakes for communicating effectively rise to a new level. In many instances, investigations and litigation focus on high-level executives as well as their company. With all that at risk, legal counsel must often focus on issues of law, not on communicating with the media and key stakeholders. It is critical to understand the need for both legal and communication strategies, and how to make the two work together. 


Labor Communications: Sound communications strategy, planning, and messages are key to proper positioning leading up to and during negotiations. They become even more crucial when declaring an impasse, implementing terms of the contract offer, during a strike or lockout and for eventual settlement. The plan should be developed with key elements of the organization's needs clearly in mind. Clearly defined objectives - the bargaining outcomes the organization must have - are critical not only to the success of the general labor strategy, but to the success of the communications strategy as well.

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Understanding what makes the media tick can be essential to the success of many high-profile projects. Gogerty Marriott helps clients develop media plans that provide reporters and editors with information needed to understand the issues and to help clients communicate appropriately when there is controversy. Some of the instrumental elements in these plans include:

• Briefings with reporters and editorial writers 

• Events that attract favorable news coverage 

• Media kits including press releases, fact sheets and Q and As
• 
Producing and placing op-eds
• Letters to the editor campaigns

• Placement of positive stories

• Media training for client spokespersons and message preparation

• Internal research and risk assessment to help anticipate and prepare for potentially negative coverage

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When crisis occurs, the difference between a speedy and successful or long and painful recovery depends on how well a business anticipates and prepares. How the public views what has happened, and how a company responds to emergencies, is critically important to credibility and reputation. Lack of planning can destroy in days what a business has taken years to build. 


Gogerty Marriott provides the strategic planning and communications tools that businesses, corporations, non-profits and other organizations need to prepare for crisis.


Our crisis communications services include risk assessment, strategic counsel, media training, and preparation of appropriate responses. We provide clients with an external perspective and 'calm under fire' approach to help them weather what could otherwise be a business-threatening crisis.

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An integral part of crisis communication lies in delivering core messages through the media.

At Gogerty Marriott, we’re experienced in on-camera training for the most challenging or hostile interviews, speeches and presentations.  We’ve assisted political candidates for local, state and federal offices, CEOs, military generals, heads of trade associations and members of the media.

Whether it’s learning message discipline or anticipating negative and hostile questions and turning them to your advantage, we’ll assist you with a comprehensive approach in dealing with the media by designing a program that helps you achieve your objectives in a positive manner and places your organization in the positive light it deserves.

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There are not many silver bullets in dealing with public affairs problems. Real solutions require a multi-phased campaign to get you where you want to go, and a tightly knit team to make it happen.

The practitioners at Gogerty Marriott pride themselves not just on providing insights and strategy, but in building close relationships with our clients, internalizing their needs and seeing campaigns through to the end every time. In short, we take our clients’ problems, and make them our own.

For years we have worked closely with clients of all sizes and needs. From Fortune 500 companies, to non-profits, and labor unions, we have helped integrate their internal resources with our specialized skills. Building these close working relationships, we have been able to react immediately and effectively to new developments as they arise, without delay or confusion.

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Gogerty Marriott is more than just a couple of names on an office door, they are the driving force behind the work we do every day.

With decades of experience, Bob Gogerty and David Marriott have been pioneers in the field of public affairs communication. They started the firm as a way to bring together a small, specialized team of strategists with the talent and experience to tackle any project that sounded interesting.

30 years later the team is still small, but has worked together for years on projects of every size. The tightly knit team is deeply versed in the firm’s innovative approach to message development. Half the members of the firm have been working together for 10 years or more, and Bob and David are still directly involved in every project.

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