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.