Much of the work ReadDillon undertakes is politically and commercially sensitive, and we will not publicise it on our website. However, these confidentiality restraints do not always apply, and we have outlined four case studies below which give an indication of at least some of our work.
CASE STUDY: CLIENT - AN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS COMPANY
Our client was a relatively new start-up sports equipment company emanating from Asia.
Their brand name/identity was weak and level of awareness in the UK virtually none.
In a very competitive marketplace they needed to professionalise themselves, to have any real chance of challenging existing and very well-known brands in the UK and other markets.
Our first recommendation to them was that their brand name was unmemorable and had no likely resonance with potential customers.
They resisted the temptation to fire us(!) and listened to our advice that, in a very crowded and mature market-place, they needed to heavily differentiate themselves and not appear as yet another ‘me-too’ brand.
We came-up with the name ‘BoomBoom’ which, very helpfully, has now become part of the vernacular of cricket.
We then produced a strong visual identity and set of brand attributes, revolving around the genuinely innovative nature of the products the company manufactures.
Following on from this, a website was designed and a UK media campaign launched. The website now attracts over 200,000 unique visitors a month.
ReadDillon generated a major feature article in The Times and significant coverage on Sky Sports and SABC, among many other pieces of trade media coverage.
We also introduced BoomBoom to Lord Newby, the Chairman of Sports for Life International, and negotiated a commercial tie-up, which has worked well for both parties.
CASE STUDY: CLIENT - A MEMBER OF A HIGH PROFILE ROYAL FAMILY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Our client wanted to stand for election to become President of an international governing body for an Olympic sport.
There were three high profile candidates standing for election – including the incumbent Deputy President - and 126 countries were eligible to vote at the Annual Congress, held in Kuala Lumpur.
ReadDillon created an international campaign strategy which revolved around identifying certain ‘magnet’ countries.
Firstly, to get their support for our client but, also, more importantly, because they were clearly influential with other countries in their region, and could potentially help deliver their votes too.
Our client personally visited each one of these ‘magnet countries’ (14 of them) and delivered her case in person.
We produced all the messaging, content, creative and collateral for the campaign, and translated these into five different languages. We also generated some high profile media editorial on BBC World TV, Al Jazeera and in the New York Times.
A ‘Battle Plan’ campaign grid was set-up and updated on a daily basis with intelligence about the voting intentions of each country.
We took a very sceptical view of all voting-intention feedback and - on the morning of the vote – predicted a very narrow win, but in the final analysis, our client won by the convincing margin of 23 countries.
CASE STUDY: CLIENT - ONE OF EUROPE'S TOP 3 BUSINESS SCHOOLS (BASED IN FRANCE)
To deliver a crisis management course and media training to 40 senior managers.
This was the first time that this international Business School had introduced a crisis management and media training component to its Executive MBA programme.
We were given one full-day to deliver a practical, hands-on, life-like course.
It had to be a course with a clear international dimension, as there were participants from 23 countries.
We decided to design a totally bespoke course around the pervasive international financial crisis, and its ramifications for banks, consumers, protest groups, the IMF and governments.
ReadDillon ‘fielded’ a five person training team, including one current BBC World TV News journalist and cameraman.
We produced a specially-made five minute film about the crisis to ensure the scene was well set, and the course participants understood the context in which they were operating.
We then embarked on real-time role-play, and asked groups to respond to quickly changing scenarios, which put them under intense pressure and tested their decision-making, team-collaboration and media interview skills.
Media interview counselling ran concurrently throughout the day, and was given by a former ITN News producer.
The course was very well received and - when evaluated afterwards by all 40 executives – ReadDillon scored an average mark of 4.63 out of 5, where 5 was excellent.
We have now been asked to deliver more courses by this client.
CASE STUDY: CLIENT - AN INTERNATIONAL NGO
Our client is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) based in the United States. It is delivering healthcare - to millions of people - in one of the most remote regions of the world in central Africa.
This NGO wanted to build its reputation in the international media, with political decision-makers and prospective donors.
The challenge was to cut-through the clutter of many thousands of other NGOs, and to position the organization as highly relevant, innovative and achieving valuable tangible results.
The campaign strategy was two-fold: firstly, to harness the charismatic style of the Founder-President of the organization to generate media coverage and, secondly, to demonstrate that this remote part of the world was of increasing - if largely unknown - strategic importance to the world.
There are enormous deposits of verified oil and gas that have been discovered, in addition to the area having the longest lake on the planet containing 18% of the world’s fresh water.
ReadDillon was able to arrange introductions to key civil servants in Britain’s Department for International Development, and to show that the NGO’s objectives aligned closely with those of the British government - and were therefore worthy of potential funding.
Meetings with senior politicians in the British Parliament were also arranged and support in specific areas secured.
Several international broadcast interviews were set-up with BBC World TV News, BBC World Service Radio, The Daily Telegraph, Vice TV, Propeller Television and Corriere della Sera.
In addition, various major fundraising opportunities have been identified and high-level introductions facilitated.
