Silver Lined with Gold

Objective:
Our goal was to use the opportunity of a 25th corporate anniversary celebration to help a Fortune 100 company’s North Alabama operation bring in new employees, retain current staff and to circumvent any attempt to strengthen the position of organized labor within the manufacturing facility of 600-plus employees. A secondary objective was to gain positive recognition as an important member of the area business community, and to let the public know about the importance of the environment to the company.

Challenges:
Human resource and union issues heightened the sensitivity of the campaign. Driving through a successful campaign for Engelhard Corp., the corporation that revolutionized the catalytic converter market, involved consistent interaction with corporate leaders at the company's headquarters in New Jersey.

Strategies:
The first step involved meeting with Engelhard to understand all of the corporation's strategic communications needs for the campaign. Panorama saw the silver anniversary event as an opportunity to boost employee morale through internal and public recognition of employee achievements throughout the past 25 years. In addition, aggressive corporate growth required increased efforts to hire employees. Working within a region with an extremely tight labor market, the company knew that a strategic communications and public awareness plan would be vital in helping the company to bring in the best possible employees to its growing North Alabama facility.

Panorama PR knew that a multi-tiered strategic communication plan was the best approach for addressing the client's needs. Armed with the key messages and understanding of Engelhard's goals, we went to work.

Panorama developed an external communications campaign that focused on Engelhard's employees. "Caring for People" was Engelhard's way of honoring long-time employees and positioning the company as a caring employer. The print ad campaign was launched two weeks prior to the on-site celebration. The 25th anniversary event included tours of the plant for invited foreign dignitaries, local officials and customers. A logo, developed specifically for the anniversary, was used throughout the celebration and afterwards in employment classifieds. We carried out the theme in a successful multi-tiered internal communications campaign that also included a large painting of the logo in the main plant, and the placing of the logo on ball caps and T-shirts for all employees.

An eight-page newspaper supplement was developed by Panorama PR and paid for by Engelhard's vendors and manufacturing partners, congratulating Engelhard on the anniversary. Editorial content of the supplement was guided by Panorama PR and focused on the company's catalytic converter technology, safety record, commitment to quality and market share. The pull-out section at the center of the publication provided a snapshot of the past 25 years at Engelhard, including photos of clients, employees and dignitaries.


Results:
The campaign had a wide-reaching positive impact for Engelhard, both internally and externally. The impact of the campaign and the event served to help the company boost employee morale and, subsequently, productivity.

Following the event, Engelhard expanded its North Alabama operations and the heightened external recognition created as a result of the campaign helped the company get interest from and hire the most qualified new employees from across the region.

Engelhard continues to use Panorama's services to positively position the company both internally and externally as it continues to grow its operation in Alabama and corporate-wide. Company leaders have also referred business to Panorama on several occasions — and positive referrals from clients are the truest marks of satisfaction!

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