Everyone owns the strategy
Client: Insight Creative
Staff engagement is the secret weapon for successful companies, yet most don’t invest enough effort to make their employees their most effective partners in business building.
Moving staff from awareness of the strategy, through understanding, acceptance and finally to embedded belief and behaviours is a communication and cultural challenge. And one that Insight shares with every other business.
The Brief
2016 is the second year in a process of engaging staff with the company’s strategic framework. In 2015, we created a strategy workbook that worked well at launch but then largely gathered dust in employee’s bottom draw. This year we wanted a ‘companion' that brought the strategy into everyday behaviours. Something visually compelling and inspirational – yet highly functional – that gave staff a sense of pride in taking it to client meetings.
We also wanted it to be an artefact that drew attention to itself. Something clients found intriguing enough to ask us about.
The Solution
The theme of this year’s strategic framework was changing how we see ourselves and others, and how they see us. Changing perspectives is also the creative driver for our Strategy Book. It features:
- Four different covers celebrate the team’s individuality. When the covers come together as a set they demonstrate teamwork by forming a graphic identifier used to represent our strategy in all internal communications.
- The multiple covers allow new engagement with the strategy every time a new book is started, facilitating a fresh conversation with clients.
- The selected imagery includes both curated and created work, challenging the viewer to change either their perspective or to see how perspectives have been changed.
- Image and quote spreads reinforce the overarching messages, encouraging staff to engage with the strategy again and again.
- Bold graphic spreads communicate the key points for ease of understanding. These same spreads were used to launch the strategy, providing strong visual continuity and recall.
- Dedicated areas for the team to fill in, add two-way engagement.
- A bookmark is added for ease of use, adding a sense of attention to detail. This is reinforced by an envelope on the inside back cover for business cards and receipts.
The Results
Has it worked? Go to any meeting and you’ll see Insight staff writing in their Strategy books. Participate in any planning discussion and someone will inevitably turn to the business plan in their book to remind us what’s important. Yeah, it really has worked.
And clients have responded as well. Intrigued by the cover, many have asked us what it’s all about. Better still, more than one client has said, “That’s exactly what we need” and briefed us to design a similar companion for them.
