Provoke. Campaign. Communicate.
Bold As Usual
Provocate® specialises in the evidence and engagement that make bold decisions your business as usual.
Let’s Provocate®
Provocate®’s insights and influence have been at the heart of the biggest ideas and issues facing the health of Australia’s population and productivity since 2017, with globally-award winning results.
We work with the world’s best and biggest names (and those that want to be) to purposefully convert their public, policy and political relations into profitable reputations through our market-leading inhouse approach to combining evidence and engagement that your target audiences cannot afford to ignore. In three simple steps: Provoke. Campaign. Communicate®. Let’s Provocate®.
Global Top 20
Public Relations Campaign
2024-25
Global Top 75
Communications Innovators
2023-24 & 2022-23
APAC & ANZ Best
Insights & Impact Measures
2024-25, 2023-24 & 2022-23
AUS
Best
Thought Leadership
2024-25* & 2023-24
Provoke. Campaign. Commuicate.
A system for change, not just a slogan.
Provocate® are market leaders in creating compelling cases for change via the rapid discovery and deployment of deeper data and insights across a broad range of industries, issues and communication channels.
Our systematic approach means we can be inserted into any business or sector, while ensuring our existing expertise in areas like health, social, economic and environmental impact is endlessly expanding through continuous capture and sharing of information with out clients and contacts.
1. Provoke.
Discover numbers that demand action and turn fragmented data into original thinking that will not only guarantee evidenced-backed engagement, but change your corporate and communications fortunes.
2. Campaign.
Develop narratives that key decision makers can't afford to ignore, backed by rapid, rolling and repeatable research that maintains momentum and maximises value from your advocacy and awareness assets.
3. Communicate.
Drive negotiations that reform your reputation and revenues and mitigate risk via proactive positioning and partnerships with all your internal and external stakeholders that also keeps them accountable.
Proof the system works.
Built on experience.
Designed for impact.
“Driven by the firm’s pioneering approach to data and insights… Troy Bilsborough’s work at Provocate has not just wowed judges at consecutive awards shows, but also led to fundamental behavioural change across some of Australia’s key issues, including health technology assessments, ESG and organisational development. There have also been notable campaign highlights in aligning business, government and NGOs.”
– PRovoke Media (Holmes Report), the world’s preeminent public relations news source, Global Top 75 Communications Innovators, 2024.
Australia's most talked about insights.
Putting our numbers & narratives into action.
From data and discovery through to campaigns and communications, we work with you to apply our award-winning approach to evidence and engagement to move decisions, funding and reputations.
We help you test ideas, uncover the evidence behind them, and turn early thinking into positions that can stand up, scale and succeed.
We help you define strategy with evidence that shapes
direction, and build the narrative and engagement needed to bring others with
you.
Turn expertise into evidence-backed positions that lead the agenda, not follow it.
We help you shift government positions, funding decisions and reform agendas through evidence-led campaigns that drive movement, not just discussion.
We help you use key moments to generate attention that moves opinion, combining evidence and storytelling to sustain cut-through.
We help you develop original and white-labelled reports that set the agenda, frame the issue on your terms, and continue to deliver value through staged release and engagement.
We help you secure funding and approvals with evidence that not only motivates decision-makers, but they can rely on and defend.
We help you launch with evidence and narrative aligned so attention converts into uptake, access and traction.
We have developed A New Way to HTA to help you list faster and first time, while maximising value from existing listings to strengthen regulatory relationships and revenues.
We help you reset your position with evidence and manage engagement in real time so you stay in control under pressure.
Decision Makers.
At all stages.
Provocate® is designed to help position your organiation for continued success with a consistent flow of evidence and engagement that not only proactively sets the agenda, but allows you to be prepared to react rapidly to risks - and turn them into opportunities.
Our flexible model allows us to work alongside individual teams to support their specific needs or as a system integrating evidence and engagement end-to-end across your various corporate, campaign and communications goals to maximise outcomes with minimal additional resources.
C-suite
We work with C-suite leaders to uncover and frame the top-line numbers and narratives to proactively lead their agendas, not just defend them.
Compliance
We support policy, legal and regulatory teams to not only maximise ROI from compliance with the rules, but build the case to change them.
Corporate Affairs
We provide corporate affairs and comms teams evidence to strengthen their internal and external relations - and convert into profitable reputations.
Customer
We help marketing and research teams generate new insights and social trends, not just follow them, and translate into meaningful action.
Queensland-bred.
Globally-led.
Provocate® services a national clientelle from our headquarters in Queensland’s Gold Coast. Like our home state, we’re one of the nation’s fastest growing and increasingly recognised on the global stage for our achievements. This includes Provocate® being the first-ever Queensland firm represented in the Global Top 20 public relations campaigns (2024-25) and Global Top 75 public relations innovators (2023-24, 2022-23).
Let’s Provocate®
Frequently Asked Questions
Our difference.
1. How do you differ from traditional Big 4 or policy consultancies?
Provocate understands what is needed to advocate, and has evolved as an antidote to the bloated big 4 and policy consultancy model of producing long, static reports with even longer lead times, only to end up in a drawer, rarely to be cited again.
Evolving from a traditional PR and GR firm, we instinctively deliver the numbers and narratives that not only demand engagement, but change outcomes. Our in-house ability to deliver evidence and engagement end-to-end means we are invested in the quality of our findings and focused only on what is needed, without the traditional padding.
This intimate understanding of what corporate and public affairs teams need also allows us to rapidly generate and deploy research on repeat through rolling releases, maintaining momentum and creating dynamic content that shapes the agenda in real time.
2. Aren't you just another PR agency?
No. We started life as a PR firm and evolved to deliver the numbers and narratives you need, without having to wait for external reports or internal data cycles.
That experience matters. It means we know which numbers will actually land, and which narratives will move decisions, not just fill pages.
Traditional models often produce comprehensive outputs that cover every angle but lack focus. We take the opposite approach. We identify what matters, generate the evidence quickly, and apply it through campaigns and engagement while decisions are still in play.
That is the difference between reporting on an issue and shaping its outcome.
3. Are you registered lobbyists?
Yes, we are equipped to make your case to government, with active lobbyist registrations Federally and in key states.
That said, our evidence-based approach to engagement is designed to help you build strong relationships with governments direct and become trusted advisers.
This modern approach also allows us to provide you unbiased advice and fearless representation when we do engage on your behalf, given we are not reliant on selling access to relationships like traditional government relations-only firms.
4. Do you work alongside teams or deliver for them?
We do both.
Most corporate affairs teams already know how to execute. What is often missing is the evidence capability needed to identify the right numbers, build the right narrative and keep generating fresh material as issues evolve. That is where we come in.
Unlike traditional Big 4 or policy consulting firms, we do not stop at providing the numbers. We develop the evidence and apply it through engagement across your internal and external communications channels and stakeholders.
We can therefore work alongside teams to strengthen their evidence, campaign and engagement capability, or step in and deliver end-to-end when extra capacity, specialist expertise or temporary cover is needed. In both cases, the advantage is the same: timely, decision-shaping evidence that can be turned straight into action.
5. When should we engage Provocate®?
Our systematic approach to evidence and engagement allows us to help you stay ahead of issues, while also responding rapidly when they arise.
We are a go-to firm for our award-winning approach to issues management, from real-time crisis events and unexpected policy changes to long-running disputes and advocacy campaigns.
However, the real advantage for those who work with us is proactive. Our evidence-led approach reduces reactive reputational pressure by identifying issues early, generating the evidence behind them and deploying thought leadership and engagement to keep you on the front foot.