BARCLAYS BANK

THE BRIEF:
Barclays Bank was repositioning the brand to be more in-line with the attitudes and behaviour already present in the bank – to engender a spirit of inventiveness that would ultimately improve customer service.
The bank had a history of doing things differently and coming up with innovative solutions for it’s customers, and it needed to promote this spirit and encourage everyone to live by this ethos, embrace it and allow it to become part of the organisation’s DNA.
The objective was to design and implement an internal communications programme that would impart this message in a way that would enable employees to know about, fully understand and ultimately advocate this new positioning before it was revealed to the public through above the line advertising.

THE SOLUTION:
Comment UK was one of the companies invited to pitch on the brand internalisation project.
Comment’s unique brand of corporate theatre and its ability to impart information in an engaging and memorable way resulted in them winning the pitch.
Comment designed a four hour programme comprising theatre modules and delegate workshops, which informed staff of the new brand positioning, openly addressed concerns and advocated the new brand in a way that would excite and stimulate key member of staff in order to allow them to take the message back to their peers and disseminate it through the organisation.

THE RESULT:
According to delegate evaluation, the use of corporate theatre to communicate complex issues was the most effective and entertaining the staff had encountered in any communication programme.
The programme which was performed 14 times nationwide reached 2,000 staff members, who at a ration of 1:20 were inspired to pass the information on to colleagues thus ensuring the message permeated the entire staff force of 40,000.
The internal events team who commissioned the unique theatrical communications device said that the programme raised the bar for internal events within the bank.
The effectiveness of the programme has led to the incorporation of corporate theatre in future communication programmes.
The corporate theatre scored a 97% Delegate satisfaction rating – the highest for an internal communication programme to date, and 93% of delegates believed the communication solution would help them bring the brand to life.