stakeholder-mapper

Skill: Stakeholder Mapper

Maps all audiences — internal and external, formal and informal — against two axes: influence (their power to affect brand outcomes) and interest (their level of engagement with the brand or issue). Produces a prioritised engagement plan that ensures no critical voice is ignored.

When to Use

• At the start of any strategic engagement (before planning begins)
• For corporate communications and issues management
• For B2B campaigns where multiple buyer-side roles need addressing
• For change management or internal comms planning
• When a crisis requires rapid audience prioritisation

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Stakeholder Identification Process

Step 1: Generate the Long List

Before filtering, generate a complete, uncurated list of all possible stakeholders. Use these categories as prompts:

Internal stakeholders:

• Leadership (C-suite, Board)
• Management (Middle management)
• Employees (by function: sales, operations, R&D, marketing)
• Employee representative bodies (unions, works councils — especially critical in France)
• Shareholders (if public) / Investors (if private)

External stakeholders — Commercial:

• Existing customers (by segment, tenure, or value)
• Prospects / potential customers
• Channel partners / distributors / resellers
• Suppliers and strategic vendors
• Industry associations and standards bodies

External stakeholders — Institutional:

• Government and regulatory authorities
• Political actors (elected officials, party structures)
• European institutions (if relevant for EU-market brands)
• Supervisory bodies and regulatory agencies
• Public agencies and semi-public bodies

External stakeholders — Media and Opinion:

• Journalists (national press, trade press, specialist)
• Editors and news directors
• Influencers and content creators
• Bloggers and community leaders
• Podcasters and newsletter writers

External stakeholders — Civil Society:

• NGOs and advocacy organisations
• Consumer associations
• Professional associations
• Academic and research institutions
• Think tanks and policy influencers

External stakeholders — Ecosystem:

• Competitors (for co-opetition or industry issues)
• Complementary brands (partnership potential)
• Technology partners

Target: 30–50 stakeholders on the long list before filtering.

Step 2: Map on the Influence/Interest Matrix

Place each stakeholder on the 2x2 matrix:

                    HIGH INFLUENCE
                         │
         ┌───────────────┼───────────────┐
         │               │               │
 MANAGE  │    ENGAGE &   │   PARTNER     │
ACTIVELY │    MONITOR    │   & CO-CREATE │
         │               │               │
─────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┼─── INTEREST
LOW      │               │               │   HIGH
         │    MONITOR    │    INFORM &   │
         │               │    CONSULT    │
         │               │               │
         └───────────────┼───────────────┘
                         │
                    LOW INFLUENCE

Quadrant definitions:

Quadrant	Influence	Interest	Strategy
Partner & Co-Create	High	High	Priority relationship. Involve early. Co-create content and narratives.
Manage Actively	High	Low	Must be kept on side. Risk of opposition if ignored. Proactive engagement.
Inform & Consult	Low	High	Natural allies. Keep informed, invite to participate, use as amplifiers.
Monitor	Low	Low	Minimal investment. Track in case they shift quadrant.

Step 3: Assess Attitude

For each stakeholder in the top two quadrants, assess their current attitude toward the brand/issue:

Stakeholder	Quadrant	Current attitude	Desired attitude	Distance to close
		Advocate / Neutral / Sceptic / Opponent		High / Medium / Low

Priority communication investment:

• Opponents with high influence = Crisis-level engagement
• Sceptics with high influence = Priority persuasion
• Neutrals with high influence = Conversion to allies
• Advocates = Mobilise and amplify

Step 4: Define Engagement Approach Per Group

For each priority stakeholder (Partner + Manage Actively quadrants):

### [Stakeholder Group Name]

**Representative individuals/organisations**: [Name the specific people or entities]
**Current attitude**: [Advocate / Neutral / Sceptic / Opponent]
**Key concern or interest**: [What they care about in relation to this issue/brand]
**What they need from us**: [Information / consultation / involvement / proof of action]

**Communication approach**:
- Channel: [Direct meeting / Press event / Formal briefing / Published report / Informal dialogue]
- Frequency: [One-off / Monthly / As-needed]
- Message emphasis: [Which pillar from the message architecture lands best with this group]
- Messenger: [Who delivers — CEO / Expert / Agency rep / Third-party voice]

**Risk if we get it wrong**: [What happens if this stakeholder turns hostile]
**Early win opportunity**: [What small action could shift their attitude quickly]

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Stakeholder Map for Internal Comms

For internal campaigns and change management, apply a specific internal mapping:

Function	Influence on adoption	Attitude to change	Key concern	Change agent potential
C-Suite	High
HR	High
Middle Management	Very High
Operations	Medium
Customer-facing teams	Medium
IT	Medium

French-market note: Employee representative bodies (CSE — Comité Social et Économique) have formal consultation rights on significant business changes in France. They must appear in any internal stakeholder map and have their own engagement plan before public announcements.

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Output: Stakeholder Map + Engagement Plan

Save to data/1-Projets/clients/[client]/stakeholder-map.md

Structure:

1. Stakeholder Universe — Full long list with quadrant assignment
2. Priority Matrix — Visual 2x2 with top 15 stakeholders placed
3. Attitude Audit — Priority stakeholders with current/target attitude
4. Engagement Plan — Detailed approach per priority group
5. Risk Register — Top 5 stakeholder risks and mitigation
6. Quick Wins — 3 early actions to shift key attitudes

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Integration Points

• Receives from: brief-analyzer (stakeholder signals), audience-intelligence (audience segments)
• Feeds into: message-architecture (audience adaptations), campaign-strategy (channel mix), crisis-planner
• Triggered by: /comms:strategy, /comms:brief, /comms:crisis