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Defence Communications Challenges Survey 2025/26

As specialists in STEM communications for the defence and security sector, we're conducting research to better understand the communication and marketing challenges faced by organisations working with or within the MOD ecosystem.

Your insights will help shape practical guidance and solutions for the sector as well as inform our agenda for the annual Reputation Masterclass: https://canny-comms.co.uk/masterclass-2026

For every survey completed, we will donate £15 to the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal.
This survey takes approximately 8-10 minutes to complete. All responses are confidential and will be anonymised in any published findings.
Section 1: About you & your organisation
1.Which best describes your organisation?
2.What is your role?
3.Roughly how many people work in your organisation?
Section 2: Communication challenges
4.When communicating with your stakeholders, which challenges does your organisation face? (Select all that apply)
5.Rate the following statement: "Our organisation struggles to communicate complex technical information in ways that non-technical MOD stakeholders can understand and act upon."
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
6.What specifically makes communicating with MOD audiences different from commercial clients?
Section 3: Programme delivery & stakeholder engagement
7.If your organisation delivers projects/programmes for MOD or prime contractors, which communication-related challenges have you encountered? (Select all that apply)
8.Have communication failures ever contributed to delays, increased costs, or reduced effectiveness in your programmes?
9.If yes, what were the root causes?
Section 4: Marketing & business development challenges
10.When marketing your capabilities to MOD or defence industry clients, which challenges does your organisation face?
11.Rate the following statement: "Our marketing materials effectively communicate our value to MOD and other decision-makers."
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
12.What would most help your organisation win more contracts or secure funding?
Section 5: Internal communications & knowledge transfer
13.Does your organisation face challenges with internal communication between technical and non-technical teams?
14.Which internal communication challenges affect your organisation? (Select all that apply)
Section 6: Support & resources
15.Does your organisation currently have dedicated communications/marketing expertise with defence and security experience?
16.Does your organisation currently have dedicated communications/marketing expertise with the right level of technical undertsnding?
17.What type of communications support would be most valuable to your organisation?
18.What stops organisations like yours from getting the communications support they need?
Section 7: Future insights
19.Looking ahead, which communication challenges do you anticipate becoming more important?
20.If you could solve one communication challenge that would significantly improve your organisation's effectiveness, what would it be?
21.Would you be interested in receiving a summary of the survey findings?
Optional: Stay connected
22.If you'd be open to a brief follow-up conversation to explore any of these challenges in more depth, or would like to discuss how we might help, please provide your contact details: