In times of crisis and war Steve has been at the forefront of the UK Ministry of Defence's Corporate Communications operation, taking a pivotal role in the media operations campaigns in Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq. However, during more peaceful times it has proved a challenge to keep the Royal Navy in the public eye and Steve has been responsible for some of the Navy's most innovative PR campaigns. A small selection of his work is highlighted here. Steve was also took a lead role in the re-branding of the Royal Navy's corporate image.
During the national fire fighter's strike, the UK Armed Forces provided emergency cover. One of the enduring images of that operation was captured by one of Steve's deployed military photographers and placed by Steve with The Sun newspaper where it made the front page.
From the end of the 1991 Gulf War through to the 2003 Iraq War the Royal Navy has been active in enforcing UN sanctions operations in the region. Steve has planned and led a number of major press facilities in the Middle East. Such facilities were usually targeted and would include a mixture of national newspapers coverage and satellite and terrestrial TV News.
After the cessation of hostilities in Iraq, Steve placed a number of stories with the national media, on an exclusive basis, to highlight as yet un-reported work of the Royal Navy. The work of the Navy's hydrographic survey boats was a successful example of this and resulted in a double page spread in The Sun newspaper.
Maintaining public interest in the Royal Navy when it is deployed overseas is extremely difficult. One way is to use innovative PR ideas to hook onto national celebrations. Shown above was the ships company of HMS ILLUSTRIOUS on Valentines day 2000 and again, below, for the red nose day charity appeal
The rock band Status Quo asked the Royal Navy if they could record their single 'Jam side down' onboard the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. As project manager for the event Steve masterminded the PR and organised a live concert onboard the ship, designed to promote the single, and attended by national and local media. Steve was also responsible for managing the RN brand image and ensuring that it figured appropriately in the record distribution process and during the singles promotion on programmes such as the BBC's 'Top of the Pops'
Steve was responsible for the BBC TV 'Rockface' series about the Royal Navy's Search and Rescue helicopter service in North Scotland. He also project managed the Channel 5 TV series Ark Royal, filmed onboard the Aircraft Carrier during its operations in Iraq in 2003.
In 2002 Steve arranged with The Sun newspaper to run a Royal Marines calendar for their readers, with images of Sailors and Marines. Over 35,000 were sold.
When Steve left the MoD to undertake studies at Cambridge he was presented with a montage illustrating all of the stories and issues he had been involved in.
Steve worked with a civilian design company to re-brand the Royal Navy's image.
Steve managed the Media Hub onboard HMS OCEAN for the Trafalgar 200 Celebrations in June 2005. The ship hosted over 100 journalists including BBC Breakfast TV and Radio 5 live. It was one of the RN's largest ever peacetime media operations.