All posts by rachel_eaton

News

Gong launches a Refugee Press Office

June 16, 2021 rachel_eaton Leave a comment

GONG LAUNCHES A REFUGEE PRESS OFFICE TO EXTEND REACH OF AGENCY PRO BONO RESOURCES TO A GREATER NUMBER OF SMALL CHARITIES

Gong Communications today announces the launch of its Refugee Press Office, building on its existing corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and B Corp commitments.

Gong’s refugee press office will act as a pro bono PR and communications resource for refugee charities without professional communications support, helping them to communicate their stories effectively, amplifying their voices and reaching changemakers and campaigners via introductions to key journalists. Gong will provide expert media relations support for up to 10 charities per year through this initiative.

Project lead at Gong, Hannah Hughes said, “As part of our B Corp community effort, Gong donates 160 hours of PR and comms support. In previous years we’ve successfully worked with organisations such as Refugee Support, the African Entrepreneur Collective, and Uganda Conservation Foundation, securing coverage in influential international titles such as The Economist. This year, when we sat down as a team to choose which one charity we wanted to support, the issue of refugees and displaced people felt the most urgent. It proved too difficult to choose just one and so the idea of running a press office service that focuses on refugee issues was born.”

Refugee charities interested in learning more about Gong’s press office service can view the webpage here: https://gongcommunications.com/refugee-press-office/ read more in the flyer here and contact us for an initial conversation.

Featured, Insight

Where are the changemakers?

June 7, 2021 rachel_eaton Leave a comment

Crises – like the current Covid-19 pandemic – take a significant social and economic toll, yet they contain the dynamics for disruption from which new business models emerge. In a June 2020 survey by McKinsey, more than 90 per cent of executives said they expect the fallout from COVID-19 to fundamentally change the way they do business over the next five years.

But where are these game changers, the companies challenging convention with the ability to open up new avenues of social, economic and financial growth? Here are three of our favourite examples of companies which are challenging convention and transforming industries right now.

Dive In Festival – adapting to a virtual platform to broaden reach of D&I issues

Despite a visible year-on-year growth for the insurance industry’s festival on diversity and inclusion – which Gong has worked to deliver since inception in 2015 – the Dive In Festival team’s swift response to physical events disappearing during the pandemic resulted in record-breaking attendance in 2020. By taking the event online, and running it virtually, Dive In recorded 30,153 attendees (three times that of the previous year), at 144 events globally, in 33 countries. The event has already proved to be award-winning, at the 2021 Africa SABRE awards, and the format will be replicated for the event in September 2021, when it will once again inspire discussion around important discussions such as racial equality and gender diversity in the workplace.

Visionable – changing how we access healthcare

Visionable is the first video collaboration platform designed especially for healthcare teams’ specialist clinical needs. It’s reimagining health and social care as we become more and more digitally connected. This article in the Financial Times outlines its success in improving results for stroke victims by allowing treatment by consultants via video link before they reach hospital. Even more recent though, is its Visionable Connect video calling app, allowing Covid patients to remain in contact with loved ones whilst in lockdown and professionals to support patients without having to visit their bedside, while PPE was in short supply. You can read the case study on this here.

DPO – encouraging financial inclusion via ecommerce in Africa

DPO Group is a home-grown Kenyan technology champion headquartered in Nairobi. Established 14 years ago, it has built and scaled electronic payment solutions that are now used by 50,000 merchants across Africa. It has a history of successful innovation – notably (according to this Forbes article on the company) because of the way it “respects the cultural differences that exist across Africa markets and builds products and local teams suited to each market”. DPO responded to an accelerated structural shift away from cash to online payments during the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak by offering many of its small firm customers the opportunity to process electronic payments in order to expand. One example is Artcaffe – a coffee and bakery chain with no previous online presence – which was able to become a much larger food ordering marketplace, using a DPO-powered website. Artcaffe now sells products on behalf of its suppliers and supports the livelihoods of many offline businesses during the crisis.

Insight

EU Green Week 2021

June 4, 2021 rachel_eaton Leave a comment

“It is painfully clear that human activity has negative impacts on other forms of life. Pollution is threatening the survival of more than one million plant and animal species, on land and at sea. It is one of the five leading causes of biodiversity loss. We cannot be negligent any longer. Thus, we are determined to tackle this challenge through our European Green Deal,” were President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen’s opening remarks at EU Green Week 2021.

Dedicated to championing a ‘zero pollution ambition,’ EU Green Week took place from the 1st to 4th June to engage stakeholders and interested citizens on how we can all work together to make the ambition for a zero pollution and toxic-free environment a reality.

Highlights included a seminar from the European Environment Bureau exploring the hidden social and environmental costs as well as inherent limitations of Europe’s ongoing energy transition; a short documentary film ‘Trapped by Plastic’ by Mandy Barker on the unpalatable truths about marine plastic pollution which sparked a fierce discussion on challenging complacency, reconciling contradictions, and accelerating the pace of positive change. Alongside this was a co-hosted panel discussion with the European Policy Centre and Apple Europe on the role of partnerships and innovation in creating a healthier future for our planet.

To conclude the week, we wanted to spotlight just a handful of companies who are driving sustainably conscious, greener industries.

Quotes from clients about zero pollution ambition

News

Gong selected as PR partner to launch Birimian, an investment company focused on luxury African brands

May 28, 2021 rachel_eaton Leave a comment

Africa’s fashion industry is well recognised as a source of inspiration to international designers. However, limited scalability potential and lack of valuable critical mass of African designers are still hindering the growth of the creative sector.

Birimian Ventures aims to scale up African heritage luxury brands through patient capital, supporting designers on the continent and in the diaspora to facilitate their sustainable expansion both regionally and internationally, from seed funding to capital growth.

Gong backed Birimian’s market launch with robust media relations support, securing coverage across 22 countries worldwide, including in Vogue Business, Quartz, BBC Afrique and BBC World Service.

Insight

Africa Day: Celebrating luminaries in the creative sector

May 25, 2021 rachel_eaton Leave a comment

By Janet Ndugire, Senior Account Manager

Africa Day is an annual celebration of African unity, to commemorate the founding of the African Union. This year’s theme, “Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa we Want”, presents a unique opportunity for the continent to celebrate great individuals who have played a key role in promoting the creative industries.

To celebrate this day, we are shining a light on the work of some outstanding creatives in East Africa. The work that they do within the creative economy acts as a major contributor to Africa’s growth transformation and stands as testament to the outstanding talent within the creative sector in Africa today.

Eugene Kavuma, Co-Founder Kampala Design Week

Through Kampala Design Week, Eugene Kavuma has provided a platform that inspires, equips and engages individuals and institutions to design sustainable solutions for East Africa’s challenges. He is an alumnus of the British Council’s Creative Hubs Academy and has been supporting young entrepreneurs in the arts and culture sectors in East Africa. In this Invest in Africa podcast, he commended organisations supporting the creative industries: “The British Council, for example, are doing a great job for the sector. The idea that you can bring people together and help them structure businesses in a much more profitable manner is a great contribution to the creative sector.”

Chao Tayiana, Founder, Africa Digital Heritage

Chao Tayiana is a Kenyan digital heritage specialist and digital humanities scholar. With a life-long passion for history, her work primarily focuses on the application of technology in the preservation, engagement and dissemination of African heritage and culture.

Her organisation, African Digital Heritage, is a non-profit organisation that seeks to encourage a more holistic approach to the design and implementation of digital solutions within African cultural heritage.

Faith Aweko, Founder Reform Africa

In 2019, Faith Aweko emerged as the winner of the Social Impact Award. Unafraid to get her hands dirty (literally), Faith (who was also an alumnus of the British Council’s Creative Hubs Academy) started Reform Africa, an organisation that transforms plastic polythene waste into durable, sustainable and water-proof bag packs and artistic accessories. According to Faith, waste is not waste until you waste it.

Arnold Mugaga, Founder Zetu Africa

Arnold Mugaga is the founder of Zetu Africa, a social enterprise based in Uganda. His design-led company creates innovative bags that pupils can use to carry books and convert into seats during class sessions – inspired by a 2016 report stating that 95 million children in Africa study without classroom furniture. Innovating throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Arnold and his team now use locally sourced bamboo to create a lightweight, affordable chair and bag (with a mobile writing board) that is also waterproof.

George Gachara, Managing Partner HEVA Fund

Under George’s leadership, HEVA, Africa’s first dedicated finance, business support and knowledge facility for creative industries, has been at the forefront of supporting young businesses and entrepreneurs in the creative sector to build high-value profitable businesses to increase their potential and also create more jobs for the sector.

HEVA has invested in more than 40 creative businesses and directly supported over 8,000 creative practitioners in the fashion, digital content and television, live music and gaming value-chains.

As he opined in African Business, “Africa’s cultural and creative industries present an excellent opportunity for long-term growth, but they need to be nurtured and protected, especially in the wake of shocks from Covid-19.”

Labdi Ommes, Musician

Labdi is a visionary and a revolutionary Kenyan singer-songwriter and African single-stringed fiddle (Orutu) instrumentalist. She is a vocal powerhouse whose vision is to popularise African music culture, sounds and instruments and to re-introduce them to the world. Labdi represents the growing population of young African artists taking up indigenous instruments and re-introducing them into the current music scene. She is currently the only female Orutu player in East Africa which was taboo for women to play. The Orutu is a single-stringed fiddle which originates from Western Kenya, among the Luo Community.

For a taste of her sound, click on this link as she performs with Extra Soul Perception who were grantees of the British Council’s new Art new Audiences (nAnA).

Alumni Stories

Sally Maier Yip

April 30, 2021 rachel_eaton Leave a comment

Q&A with Sally Maier Yip, who joined Gong as an Account Manager in 2011. She left three and half years later to establish her own agency – 11K Consulting – which focuses on supporting Western luxury clients with their success in Chinese markets.

How did we first meet you?

After moving to the UK from Singapore it took me some time to establish my footing in the UK PR scene. While I navigated the differences between the two markets, I initially freelanced for Gong. To my delight, a permanent position came up and I was offered the job – I had already decided that Gong was an agency that shared my values and I immediately accepted.

What was it about Gong that appealed?

I immediately felt at home at Gong. Yours is a culture that was very reminiscent of the agencies I had worked with in Singapore – professional yet personal, and very international. Work that was not just UK-based definitely appealed to me.

What did you bring to the business over and above client service?

At Gong, everyone’s individual experiences are celebrated, no matter what your title is or position you hold. During our company away days and ‘best practice’ team learning sessions, I was frequently invited to present on the differences and opportunities of the Asian markets – helping and advising colleagues on cultural nuances that would make all the difference to a client pitch, for example.

What did you get from your Gong experience?

Undoubtedly, Gong helped me to build my career in the UK. You provided me with a solid foundation to understand how UK professionals work. I was given confidence and knowledge to advance to the next stage of my career. Also, by working on the global agribusiness, Olam, for three years, I really honed my global communications skills in several countries. I gained a profound respect for sustainability issues and food security and was proud of the work my clients did.

What skills did you hone at Gong?

I learned to deal quickly and calmly with important issues that could affect a global business. I learned the significant importance of planning and scheduling – if you are going to be effective across multiple time zones and with multiple stakeholders in one global business, you have to be on top of absolutely everything. This lesson has been invaluable when building my own business, but also in running my family alongside it!

What advice would you give to someone looking for a new comms role?

Look hard at the people working in the agency already. Do they feel like a good match for you? Do they share your values? A good agency will have staff that embodies its values and so people speak volumes.

Did working at Gong help crystallize what you wanted to achieve in your career?

Gong gave me the confidence to try new things and understand what clients really need. That was absolutely instrumental as I chose to set up my own agency and return to my Chinese heritage, enabling Western clients to ‘win’ in Chinese markets through personalised communications. I also deeply respect Narda (Gong’s MD) as a role model – someone able to integrate work with personal and family commitments.

And now?

I’m so proud that I am still in touch with Gong even after six years since being a colleague. I feel that we are able to continue to support and nurture each other – working at Gong is a real legacy position and I’m delighted to still be – to some degree – part of the family.

Sally Maier-Yip 叶运珍 is Founder & Managing Director of 11K Consulting 漫一传播咨询公司 , the UK’s leading China PR and comms agency specialising in helping Western brands target and attract Chinese high-net-worth-individuals, luxury consumers, and investors in the UK, China and HK.

11K’s clients are in the high-end property development, interior design, architecture, and luxury lifestyle sectors, including: The Royal Institute of British Architects, HBA Residential, Burlington Arcade, Park Chinois, Lustica Bay in Montenegro, Remy Martin, and more.

News, Small Grid, Uncategorized

Africa Net Zero: Dr. Wolfram Schmidt on ‘green’ cement

April 19, 2021 rachel_eaton Leave a comment

Did you know that cement production is responsible for 8 – 12 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions?

In fact, if the cement industry were a country, it would be the third largest carbon dioxide emitter in the world with up to 2.8bn tonnes.

As part of our #AfricaNetZero series, we spoke to @Wolfram Schmidt about his research into alternative materials like cassava and other agricultural residues as a source of ‘green’ African-made cement for future sustainable construction on the continent.

Thank you, Wolfram, for sharing your insights with us!

Case Study

Sunlight

March 24, 2021 rachel_eaton Leave a comment

MEDIA RELATIONS FOR WORLD-LEADING ENERGY STORAGE COMPANY

On a retained basis, we supported Sunlight Group Energy Storage Systems, a world-leading technology company and provider of innovative energy storage solutions, in finding its voice amidst the green energy transition discussions.

Our renewable energy PR team ran a communications messaging workshop to define the company’s three key messages, supported its international expansion and positioned the company as a voice of authority on sector issues.

Then we set about securing CEO interviews and company profiles in international business titles including Reuters, Forbes, NY Times and Bloomberg. We also managed thought leadership articles with leading trade publications including Warehouse & Logistics, Energy Storage News and Batteries International, on the topics of battery innovation and industrial applications. Profiles and opinion pieces were supported by regular product and company news announcements covered by titles such as Yahoo! Finance, El Pais, Il Sole 24 Ore and Handelsblatt.

Through a PR & marcomms campaign, our renewable energy communications consultants helped Sunlight Group to communicate its employee value proposition, promote its employment opportunities within Greece and champion its female representatives within the STEM sector. We told these stories through a series of Life at Sunlight videos, blogs and social media assets, backed up by a solid media relations campaign in key engineering and energy titles such as PV Magazine, FinanzNachrichten and FocusTechnica.

Case Study

Puro.earth

March 24, 2021 rachel_eaton Leave a comment

CAMPAIGNING WITH A COMMITMENT TO NET ZERO

Puro.earth is a marketplace for voluntary carbon removals, designed to help businesses committed to Net Zero reduce their carbon footprint immediately, while they figure out their own operational emissions reductions.

Gong was introduced to Puro.earth to help amplify its full commercial rollout as it emerged from a year’s beta testing among its founding community with early clients including Swiss Re.

We developed key messages and talking points for the three founders to drive consistency and clarity through their media and stakeholder engagement.

After a successful launch period, Gong’s brief increased to include social media management to help reach influential experts and opinion formers in global carbon markets.

The stakeholder engagement campaign includes a call to action (on the back of a public consultation) for carbon removal to be separated from less scientifically measurable forms of carbon offsetting, to promote its efficacy.

Puro.earth hit the headlines as it was chosen to support Microsoft in its goal to be carbon negative by 2030 and remove all historic emissions by 2050, by providing verified carbon dioxide removal tonnage from suppliers on its platform. Gong arranged for Marianne Tikkanen, Co-founder of Puro.earth, to talk to Ian King on Sky News about Puro.earth, the future of global carbon removal supply and the different methodologies available already.

We also supported Puro.earth as Nasdaq bought a majority stake in the company, marking the New York stock exchange operator’s first investment in the carbon removal market. International coverage included Wall Street Journal, Sifted, Business Green and Greenbiz.com.

Case Study

Volans

March 24, 2021 rachel_eaton Leave a comment

AMPLIFYING PARTNERSHIPS WITH EXPERT OPINION

Volans is a think tank and advisory firm operating at the cutting edge of regenerative innovation to help catalyse systemic change.

Gong works with Volans to engage the media to amplify its client initiatives and partnerships. An example of this in action is Bankers for Net Zero. This initiative brings all the major stakeholders in the UK financial sector – including banks, businesses, regulators, and government – together to solve the challenges of reaching a Net Zero economy. Coverage has included articles in the New York Times, Reuters, Mail online, City AM, Yahoo Finance and more, building momentum and generating new enquiries from other potential collaborators.

Gong has also worked on opinion pieces and thought leadership that communicate Volans’ ability to make complex issues accessible for business leaders.