Category Archives: Case Study

Royal Academy of Engineering

The Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa Programmes are advancing engineering innovation and sustainable development across sub-Saharan Africa.

We were engaged to raise the profile of the Africa Grants and Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, positioning them through a lens of diversity, inclusion, and impact.

Working with Academy stakeholders, we developed a unifying communications framework and toolkit to help awardees and partners share their stories with confidence. This informed a series of thought leadership articles on the value of UK–Africa collaboration. Anchoring activity around World Engineering Day, we secured 387 pieces of coverage in outlets such as Forbes and CNBC Africa, reaching an estimated 350m people in less than two weeks. Ten in-depth case studies, based on interviews with partners and beneficiaries, brought to life the Programmes’ transformative impact on skills and capacity building.

Our partnership has extended to global moments of advocacy. Ahead of COP26, we media trained Academy spokespeople and led targeted outreach under embargo, securing top-tier coverage in Kenya, Ethiopia and across the continent. A coordinated press release delivered a further 1,000 media hits, elevating awareness of the Academy’s leadership in tackling urgent issues such as open waste burning.

Most recently, we are supporting the Academy with strategic communications for the Africa Prize. By profiling 16 exceptional finalists, coordinating photo and video storytelling across seven countries, and preparing innovators for media and public speaking, we are showcasing Africa’s engineering excellence on the world stage. Early results include 388 pieces of coverage, with high-profile features in The Telegraph and BBC News Africa, reinforcing the Prize’s reputation as a catalyst for innovation and impact.

AMEA power

Gong was engaged to build the profile of AMEA Power, an ambitious and fast-growing Independent Power Producer (IPP) operating across Africa and the Middle East. At a time when the company was scaling its portfolio and seeking to establish itself as a trusted industry leader, we developed and executed a communications strategy to amplify its voice across influential media channels.

Our media programme delivered measurable impact: securing over 700 pieces of high-quality coverage across pan-African and Middle Eastern outlets, reaching investors, policymakers, and industry stakeholders in key markets.

To strengthen AMEA Power’s thought leadership credentials, we drafted and placed a series of high-impact opinion pieces in tier-one business and financial media, including CNBC and Arabian Business, shaping the conversation around renewable energy investment and sustainable growth.

In parallel, we positioned AMEA Power’s senior spokespeople as authoritative voices in the energy sector, securing broadcast interviews with CNBC and BBC Focus on Africa. These platforms gave AMEA Power an opportunity to articulate its vision for powering Africa’s future, while reinforcing its credibility as a partner of choice in the region.

Greek Sovereign Wealth Fund

Gong led a consortium to support Greece’s Public Wealth Fund (Growthfund) in embedding ESG into the heart of its portfolio of 17 state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

As part of this mandate, we developed a strategic framework comprising a Strategy on a Page (SOAP), a message house, and a comprehensive communications activation plan. Central to this work was the creation of a series of Expectation Documents: clear, practical guides setting out how SOEs should address the risks and opportunities presented by the just and green transition.

Covering themes such as climate change, accessibility, and the blue economy, these documents provided boards and management teams with concrete direction on disclosure practices, emissions targets, climate scenario analysis and ESG reporting standards. We also designed the documents to be visually impactful and accessible, helping to reinforce Growthfund’s leadership role in driving sustainable transformation.

The Expectation Documents continue to form part of Growthfund’s ESG approach and are referenced across the SOE portfolio. They have been included in subsequent reports and remain a resource to guide portfolio companies in shaping their ESG practices.

Landscape Institute

Highlighting the role of landscape architects in building landscapes that support health and wellbeing and promote green recovery.

Gong worked with the Landscape Institute, the chartered body for the landscape profession, to highlight the role of landscape architects in building landscapes that combat climate change, support health and wellbeing, and promote the green recovery.

Gong’s sustainability communications team focused on increasing awareness of the Landscape Institute in media by telling the incredible stories of the winners of the Landscape Institute Awards.

After initial discovery work which included reviewing company stakeholders, analysis of the media landscape and conducting interviews with the various winners, we achieved coverage in target titles such as BALI, Horticulture Week, The Landscaper, and Architect’s Datafile.

Gong was re-engaged by the Landscape Institute to support the Landscape Institute Awards 2022, achieving coverage in trade and regional publications such as Specification and London Daily News.

Our sustainability comms specialists also helped the Landscape Institute to launch its Skills for Greener Places research at the body’s annual Jellicoe lecture. After reviewing and identifying key themes that would attract media interest around the report, Gong secured press release coverage in regional and trade titles such as London Daily News and Pro Landscaper, and follow up interviews with Landscape Institute stakeholders in Horticulture Week.

DPO Group

Corporate profiling leading to an acquisition in a landmark deal and one of the largest exits in Africa’s tech sector.

DPO Group has developed the technology to allow businesses across Africa to process payments, on and offline. Headquartered in Kenya, with presence in 19​ African countries, DPO works with businesses of all sizes, supporting the growth of small local businesses, as well as working with large corporations, such as Uber, Booking.com and DHL. ​

Gong was tasked with supporting DPO in developing its corporate profile and raising awareness of its suite of products to businesses locally, regionally and internationally, with coverage secured in Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, the UK, the US, China and France, amongst others. ​

In August 2020, Gong supported DPO Group in the announcement of its planned acquisition by Network International, in what is a landmark deal for the African payments landscape and one of the largest exits in Africa’s tech sector. ​

With a modest investment we are delivering outsized results, securing 50 pieces of coverage of DPO’s acquisition alone, including in top tier international titles such as Forbes and Quartz. The estimated reach of this single announcement was over 1.5bn readers.

DoctorLink

Awareness raising and reputation management leading to a 250% increase in active user base for pioneering telehealth platform.

Gong was retained to develop a communications strategy to launch digital triage provider DoctorLink, encouraging uptake by GP surgeries, changing public perception and behaviour around booking GP appointments, and building a corporate brand to support future products and long-term business goals.

We began by conducting extensive stakeholder and market research which informed a brand strategy workshop, during which we analysed corporate brand attributes and differentiators and defined the company vision, mission, values and core market positioning.

We took a multi-channel approach to achieve DoctorLink’s core communications goals, including media relations, social media, industry event debates, thought leadership whitepaper research, case studies, working with medical professional champions and influencers, video and design collateral including infographics.

The product launch was a huge success, with extensive coverage of the white paper research in industry publications, as well as expert opinions published in the national papers. The research was turned into a TED-style talk and used as the basis for speaking engagements at key NHS conferences.  Following the launch, we continued to build DoctorLink’s B2B profile alongside a consumer awareness of the product through ongoing media and marketing activity.

In December 2020, DoctorLink was acquired by digital health company HealthHero, having seen a 250 per cent increase in its active user base and 900 per cent growth in video consultations over the nine months prior to acquisition. During this timeframe, the number of GP clinics using the DoctorLink platform had tripled and it reported 10 times revenue growth in 2020, making it one of the largest telehealth companies in Europe.

City Am coverage for DoctorLink

African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM)

Positioning African Infrastructure Investment Managers as the leading sustainable infrastructure investors on the continent.

African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), one of Africa’s leading private equity investment managers dedicated to African infrastructure, has been a retained client of Gong’s since 2016.

Our corporate comms brief with AIIM focuses on talking about its extensive infrastructure experience in targeted press, concentrating on positioning AIIM as one of the leading renewable energy investors on the continent.

Activities also included announcing deal news, drafting LinkedIn content and carefully targeted op-ed writing on issues such as: the outlook for renewable energy in Africa, reform priorities in Nigeria’s power sector, the role of the private sector in plugging the infrastructure spending gap, and the importance of renewables in a greener recovery post-Covid.

Coverage has been achieved in international titles such as the Financial Times and Bloomberg, energy trade publications such as Energy Voice, Renewable Energy Magazine and Power magazine, as well as several target investment publications. Potential readership of Gong’s media coverage reaches an average of 55 million people each month.

Our work with AIIM resulted in Gong winning the global corporate communications brief for AIIM’s holding company, Old Mutual Alternative Investments.

Coverage for AIIM private equity

InspiraFarms

Focusing on the first mile of food distribution with the first ever Future of Fresh corporate event.

Fellow B Corp InspiraFarms provides on and off-grid refrigeration units to farmers in developing countries. We worked together to host its first ‘Future of Fresh’ event in London. The evening was a discussion of the challenges around the first mile of food distribution and how companies like InspiraFarms help farmers earn more for their produce while expanding their access to export markets in the UK and beyond.

The event saw speeches from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Shell Foundation, who have partnered with InspiraFarms to conduct research on finding solutions to post-harvest food losses and conduct other field trials. InspiraFarms also debuted a mini-documentary highlighting their products at work and the farmers who use them to store their crops. It was a huge success with positive feedback from a mix of attendees from government bodies, universities and notable trade media, including The Grocer and AgriInvestor.

THE SUNLIGHT GROUP

Communicating a value proposition, promoting employment opportunities and championing female STEM experts for Greek energy storage employer. 

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.

sunlight coverage

Puro.earth

Developing understanding and driving demand in the voluntary carbon markets.

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 JournalSifted, Business Green and Greenbiz.com.

ian king and puro on sky news