Counter Terrorism Policing

Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) is a national collaboration of UK police forces that works with the intelligence community to protect the public as well as our national security. The communications team at CTPHQ is tasked with a vital responsibility – delivering communications that help to save lives.

The challenges being faced by the CTPHQ team

For any communications team, cutting through the noise of a crowded media landscape is a significant challenge. But for the CTPHQ team, the stakes are exceptionally high. As media manager Benjamin Holman explains, its fundamental purpose is ‘to lead communication that helps keep the country safe from terrorism and national security threats.’

‘Campaigns designed by CTP have shown that communication delivers effect: changing attitudes and behaviours and prompting action in the general public and in police colleagues.’

‘Brilliant communications at national, regional and local level can change perceptions and turn communities from bystanders to supporters.’

Internally, the mission is just as critical:

‘Our officers and staff need the right information, at the right time, in the right way, so they can be as effective as possible in their roles.’

A core challenge lies in the ever-evolving digital world. CTP, like many public sector organisations, finds itself in a battle for attention. Holman describes the operating environment as ‘mobile, digital, complex, data-rich, fragmenting. And it is evolving fast’.

This fragmentation presents a formidable obstacle: ‘Some groups that we want to reach and influence have literally no contact with the traditional channels we’ve relied on in the past.’

How would the CTPHQ team connect with specific, hard-to-reach audiences to share powerful stories and vital public safety information?

While the team possesses the ‘raw materials to be highly effective’ – including ‘powerful human stories about lives saved, brave and inspiring officers and staff, and complex investigations that lead to justice’ – they needed a sophisticated way to identify the right channels, and the journalists to tell those stories.

Connecting with new media

To tackle this challenge, the CTPHQ team decided to create a new channel of its own: a podcast. The project, launched for International Women’s Day, was named ‘Inside Counter Terrorism Policing’. Providing a platform for the women working within CTP to share their experiences, the podcast also offers insight into the workings of CTP, encouraging women to join its ranks.

‘The podcast is not only a platform for women to speak about their policing experiences, but an opportunity to inspire other women to pursue a career in policing and specifically, national security policing,’ Holman explains. ‘In the first five episodes you hear from CTP officers and staff who speak about their individual journeys into policing and their experiences and involvement in major UK terror attacks and investigations.’

With powerful content created, the next step was ensuring it reached the intended audience. This is where the Vuelio platform could help. The CTPHQ team needed to move beyond its traditional media lists and identify publications and journalists who specifically engaged with their target demographic.

‘We received a training session from Adam Giles from the training team at Vuelio, who was talking us through the platform and its features,’ says Holman. ‘We told Adam about the upcoming launch of the podcast and if we could search for media outlets that are more geared towards a female audience.’

‘Adam showed us how to view lists with such publications and a few weeks later we sent out our press release about the podcast,’ Holman says.

By using the platform’s detailed filtering and media database, the CTPHQ team could precisely target their outreach, ensuring their press release was seen by the most relevant journalists in the lifestyle and women’s interest sectors – media they might not have previously identified or prioritised. This strategic, data-led approach was a significant departure from casting a wider, more generic net. It allowed for a focused, efficient, and ultimately more impactful campaign.

Successes for the CTP team

Targeted outreach via the Vuelio platform yielded immediate and high-impact results:

‘This resulted in Woman & Home magazine contacting us to interview an officer from the podcast, which helped us to further promote the new series and the amazing women at CTP,’ says Holman.

This single piece of coverage in a major national magazine represented a significant success, placing CTP’s stories and recruitment messages directly in front of their target audience. But it was just the beginning.

The podcast launch was a resounding success across the board, achieving the kind of mainstream recognition that is difficult for any new podcast to secure.

‘Since its launch in March 2025, Inside Counter Terrorism Policing has charted in both Apple Music and Spotify Top 20, peaking at #4 in Apple True Crime charts,’ says Holman.

Beyond the metrics, the podcast achieved critical acclaim and further high-profile media attention:

‘The podcast has also received mainstream media praise after podcast guests were interviewed and appeared on BBC Woman’s Hour and BBC’s Late Show,’ Holman notes.

By leveraging the Vuelio platform, the Counter Terrorism Policing communications team was able to turn a great idea into a national success story, navigating an increasingly fragmented media landscape, reaching a key target audience, and sharing powerful stories to change perceptions, and support their vital mission.