A communications theory and methodology developed by Brian A. Kilgore,
Toronto, Canada.

This is a concept developed to provide structure, order, and accountability to the implementation of public relations and corporate communications plans.

A broad communications plan will have several Mission & Matrix units.

The Mission is very specific, and usually describes the actions we want recipients of our messages to take.

The Matrix has three major components: 
messages -- The Mission can require several messages in order to be accomplished.
audiences -- Not only the men and women we ant to take action, but the people who influence them, such as reporters and financial analysts.
vehicles -- the means, such as posters, news releases, executive speeches, of conveying the messages to the audiences.

The three components can be thought of as "planes" resembling a three-dimensional chess board, with conduits linking all of the elements ( the multitude of messages, audiences and vehicles, sort of like the chess pieces) on each plane with many of those on the other planes.

An example makes it easier to understand. It could apply to many product or service introductions within a multi-product manufacturing or multi-service organization.

From within a broad Corporate Communications program, a Mission can be extracted.

Our example uses my book as our case study. This, incidentally, is not how the book actually was publicized.

MISSION (The "action" we want): To have people go to book stores or web sites, find Going to Town, pick it up and look inside (real life or cyberlife), and read a bit, in order to make a buying decision.

(Going to Town is a book about architectural walking tours in ten Ontario towns. Published by Macfarlane Walter & Ross and written by Katherine Ashenburg, it contains hundreds of my photographs.)

MATRIX: The messages, audiences and vehicles employed to cause the Mission to be activated and successful

Top plane -- Messages
- A book of interest to architecture buffs has been published.
- A book of interest to tourists in Ontario has been published.
- A book of interest to history buffs has been published.
- A book of interest to residents looking for day trips has been published.
- The book is found in either the travel or the architecture sections of bookstores.
- The author is an expert on the topic.
- The book is genuinely useful; it has maps so that you can easily find the featured buildings.
- The book provides a framework for recreation and enjoyment: – go visit all the towns over the course of a year.
- Buy and use the book, and you’ll learn some things while having a good time.

Middle plane -- Audiences
(All categories include visitors to Ontario, and Ontario residents in the towns covered, and in other communities.)
- Architecture buffs.
- Tourists looking for ways to fill their days or for a structure for part of their vacation.
- History buffs.
- Ontarians and U.S. residents looking for interesting day-trips or weekend excursions.
- Book store buyers (we need to book to be available in the stores).
- Book store managers (we need "buzz" for the book, so that it will be displayed prominently).
- Publishing company sales reps, who need to convince book stores to order the book.
- Publishing industry trade papers, used to help convince book store owners to stock the book.

Media – The reporters and editors are audiences because they need to be convinced to run stories about Going to Town. More importantly, the editors and reporters are conduits to the physical distribution of stories about Going to Town. It is these stories themselves that are "vehicles."

Media to be reached are in Southern Ontario, National Canada, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and National U.S.A. (mostly areas within a day's drive of the towns)

- Daily newspaper travel editors.
- Daily newspaper architecture and features editors.
- Daily newspaper lifestyle editors.
- Community newspaper editors.
- Consumer magazine travel, lifestyle and architecture editors in many categories, including travel and tourism, shelter, architecture, seniors, automobile, history, general lifestyle, general newsweeklies, in-flight, art and antiques, photography, entertainment, hobbies, and others.
- Similar program to reach editors of web publications.
- Editors, producers and hosts of television book, travel, history and architecture programs.
- Television news program features editors

Lower plane -- Vehicles
- Author's presentation to publishing company sales meeting.
- Customized news releases with focus on architecture, travel, history, etc.
- Selection of photos from the book, matched to local / nearby media so that Detroit papers get western Ontario pictures, Syracuse papers get eastern Ontario photographs, etc.
- Selection of photos geared to interest of the media; i.e. particularly old buildings for history magazines, featured hotel for travel magazines, etc.
- Biography of writer, to build credibility.
- Video pre-packaged interview with writer.
- Video B-roll footage, customized for local / nearby television stations.
- Author’s tour.
- Comprehensive, but customized, slide show to be used by author on tour.
- Similar customized slides for use by photographer on tour to camera clubs, etc.
- Guest lectures at local historical societies, supported by releases, hand-out photos, etc. to generate audiences to these events.
- Guest editorials or feature articles in various media.
- Excerpts prepared for publications.
- 30 second, 60 second and 90 second tapes for distribution to radio stations (customized).
- Review copies of the book to various editors.
- Display photos from the book for exhibit in major book stores and in community halls of featured towns.
- Digital images for distribution to web sites.
- Web site (or portion of publisher’s site) for the book, including downloadable images at resolutions useful for television, newspapers, magazines and web sites.
- Letters to VIP audiences, including mayors and newspaper publishers of towns featured.

Planning is key
Prior to the program being launched, most of the elements within the matrix need to be prepared, and the linkages among messages, audiences, and vehicles need to be established.

i.e. The photo selection process keeps in mind not only the "look" of each photograph, but the need to ensure there are photos from all towns, including horizontal shots that can be cropped to fit television screens. During photo printing and duplication, counts need to be made to ensure prints are available for localized media, in addition to national media. Concurrently (and especially in the case of working with book industry promotion budgets) costs must be kept under strict control. For instance, duplicate CD ROMs with a dozen pictures, or more, can be produced for much less than one or two reproduction-grade prints, and the CD-ROM can be sent to newspapers and magazines, as long as it’s determined that the publications can work with the digital format.

The same news releases for book industry publications can be mailed to book store buyers and managers; the same poster, as long as there’s space to add an overprint, can be used at book fairs and in store windows when the author is on tour.