All posts by gavin_doult

Lloyd’s Dive In Festival

EVENT MANAGEMENT, DESIGN & STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

Inclusion@Lloyd’s, the committee for governance and strategy for D&I in insurance, challenged Gong to develop a brand platform to bring diversity and inclusion alive in the Lloyd’s market. 

They wanted an inspirational and engaging format that people would be motivated by, primarily for the business case to practise better diversity and inclusion in their companies.

The result was Dive In – what began as an initiative of Lloyd’s in just one country in 2015 has become a global initiative across the entire insurance sector, attracting support from firms in financial services, recruitment and law.

Gong developed the brand concept for Dive In and ran logistics and communications for each festival in a composite multi-stakeholder environment with a global reach of 1.8 million.

This involved developing the website and an app on both Apple and Android, curating marketing collateral including a 40-page festival programme, sponsorship offerings, organising a wealth of video and photography capture, running the press office and creating buzz through launch events, branded coffee carts, street-facing branding of the iconic Lloyd’s building, stakeholder communications in each of the 32 countries, and running global steering committee meetings from London.

Described as a ‘brave and bold event’ by Marketing Week, the success of Dive In has been widely recognised by awards in the insurance sector, marketing and PR experts and employers’ networks. Dive In has won or been shortlisted for 11 awards, won seven, and been widely praised and acknowledged across the industry.

A post-festival survey revealed its impact, with 99 per cent attendees agreeing diversity and inclusion was good for business.

Gong secured positive and extensive media coverage across the globe, reaching stakeholders throughout the insurance sector and beyond. Dive In 2020 had a footprint across six continents, with over 140 events in 35 countries.

Olam International

BUILDING INTERNATIONAL REPUTATIONS

OLAM INTERNATIONAL

Some examples of our work with one of the world’s leading agri-businesses.

Showcasing global breadth

Gong was tasked with raising the profile of Olam’s global presence through the launch of new state-of-the-art processing facilities in West Africa.

Our role was to help bring Olam’s African-centric stories to the attention of the international press. We helped introduce a new corporate theme across the organisation’s PR activities, and ensured the message was consistent across all platforms by working closely with local agencies. In addition, we pitched interviews with Olam’s CEO, Sunny Verghese, to leading Africa-focused publications.

Forbes Africa and The African Report carried out in-depth interviews with Verghese, which were followed by editorial pieces. The prestigious launch, which demonstrated Olam’s commitment to Africa while reinforcing its international leadership in agri-business, was inaugurated by the Presidents of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

Convening thought leaders: A Portfolio of Perspectives

To celebrate Olam’s 25th year, Gong developed a ‘Portfolio of Perspectives’, an anthology of short essays from business leaders and other visionary thinkers on transcending boundaries (the meaning of Olam) on the macro issues linked to global food security.

The series featured contributions on topics such as what it takes to be a 21st century commodity trader by WWF’s Jason Clay, why investor Jim Rogers believes the farmers of the future will be driving Lamborghinis, and the role of national trade policies in ensuring food security by author Paul McMahon.

The Portfolio of Perspectives was run as a mini-series on global development and sustainability platform Business Fights Poverty, featured in a contributed article on the Guardian Sustainable Business network and in Singapore business media The Business Times and Straits Times, with Twitter activity spiking around the publication of each piece.

Featuring contributions from recognised global leaders such as Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, this portfolio showcases Olam as a convener of debate and catalyst for change on global issues, ranging from food and water security to inclusive development and sustainable growth, celebrating the spirit of collaboration that has been a hallmark of Olam’s success to date.

Communicating insightful research

Olam commissioned research looking at the social impacts of female employment among the women working in its processing plants in emerging markets in support of International Women’s Day.

Gong helped to design the survey that was conducted among 6,000 women from rural communities. Results from Côte d’Ivoire, India, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Vietnam were analysed and a set of insights were developed to identify the personal and social benefits of employment beyond the obvious financial reasons.

The results, underlining the significance of confidence and choices among women, and why businesses growing in emerging markets should recognise the value of empowering female workers, were communicated through a global news announcement supported by broadcast interviews and opinion editorial. News and feature coverage was secured in BBC’s Africa Business Report and Voice of America’s Africa News Tonight, as well as featuring on the IWD blog site. Tailored material was also created for local outreach in the countries where the survey was conducted and the initiative fed into an internal communications campaign, as well as providing content for social media activity.