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Few Dutch people will have failed to notice that energy company Nuon recently changed its name to Vattenfall. But what outsiders often don’t realise is how much impact a name change like that has on the people that work there. ‘In the end, our own colleagues have to feel familiar with the new story so that they can in turn spread the message to the outside world,’ according to Anouk IJfs, press officer at Vattenfall.
That is why the company wanted to set up a rebranding campaign, specifically for that internal target audience of around 3000 employees. Nuon received help from marketing and advertising agency SowiesoHelder, who came up with the campaign ‘Hoe zeg je Vattenfall?’ (How do you pronounce Vattenfall?) This campaign was rolled out carefully over the space of a year, as they worked towards the grand final: a one hour live show on the day of the name change, titled: ‘Wij zijn Vattenfal LIVE’. (We are Vattenfall LIVE). SowiesoHelder chose EMG to arrange the production of this show.
‘Of course, Nuon had been around for years, so a lot of people within our organisation had what we’d call a yellow-and-purple heart; they were deeply committed to the Nuon brand colours. For these people it was especially important that we approached the rebranding in the right way,’ according to IJfs.
Nuon had already been owned by the Swedish mother company for a number of years, but in October 2018 it was announced that the name of the Dutch organisation would also be changed to Vattenfall. All through the year, staff were kept informed of the latest developments around the name change, not only in newsletters and news messages, but also through workshops with ambassadors and managers, and videos and animations that explained where and when the logo would change.
That there would be a live TV show on the day of the rebranding was clear from the moment the Nuon/Vattenfall communication team got together with SowiesoHelder to discuss the plans. ‘We really wanted to create a moment where we could really dwell on this historic moment with all of our colleagues without disrupting the day-to-day activities too much. The challenge was to have all colleagues, divided over 18 locations, experience this moment together. With a live show you can reach everyone at the same time,’ explains IJfs.
‘There was quite a varied target audience for the show. We wanted to create something that would appeal to people from all offices and positions within the organisations’ states Simon Sliphorst, Executive Producer at SowiesoHelder. ‘Our basic assumption was that we did not just want upper management around the table. We also wanted to add humour and entertainment to the show, and emphasise the name change from the viewpoint of the clients.’
The big question to be answered was who would be hosting the show. IJfs: ‘Initially we thought about getting a professional presenter. But then someone suggested that since it is an internal affair, aimed at Nuon/Vattenfall employees, maybe one of us could do it.’ One of the directors asked if Anouk might be interested. ‘Initially I really didn’t feel like it. In my day-to-day role I’m more active behind the scenes, making sure that other people make a good impression. So, something like this is scary.’
Read more backstage..
Her initial reservations turned to enthusiasm after receiving presentation training from Amnon Bolle. As Creative Director at Quadia, a subsidiary of United, he was responsible for directing the live show. The training Amnon and Conny van der Hoek gave me really helped me to feel confident that I would manage.’ Sliphorst: ‘We never felt that she had to look like a professional.’ It has its charm if not everything runs smoothly, because a show like this mostly needs to be authentic. It has to be a show by and for Vattenfall people.’
For SowiesoHelder, United was the right partner to put together this production: ‘Once the idea of a TV show was on the table, we knew right away that we needed someone with the right level of experience. We know United is a reliable and professional partner, so we didn’t need long to decide,’ says Sliphorst. Together with Quadia, they offered the necessary expertise in the field of corporate communication, says Merijn Visser, Account Manager at United: ‘There is an art to making large-scale TV productions, but that also goes for corporate productions. For us, this was an ideal project to unleash our joint expertise on.’
The result of this cooperation was a spectacular one-hour live show. In blocks of six or eight minutes everyone at Vattenfall was informed of the new name, the new story and the new course. Host Anouk was assisted by a seasoned presenter: ‘Jörgen Raymann was the best sidekick you could possibly hope for. Every now and then he’d join in with a question or a joke, but he never took over. That worked out really well.’
If IJfs had only one word to describe the production it would be ‘warm’: ‘The whole run-up and the way everything went in the moment. Everyone was just really positive and enthusiastic.’ The most important takeaway is that it is important for one person to be responsible for the internal communication around a rebranding. ‘For us that was Nadienske de Vries. She shouldered the load from the word go. For a rebranding to succeed, the whole organisation needs to be behind you. She made sure that happened, together with our partners in crime SowiesoHelder and United, of course.’
‘An important part of this success was that we worked on it for over a year,’ says Sliphorst. ‘If our employees had heard nothing for a year and had then been presented with this show, it would have come completely out of the blue for them. That is why we communicated it to that internal target group throughout the year.’
Visser mentions the special dynamics of the show. ‘It was really enjoyable. You could see that a lot of work had gone into it, but it never felt formal. At no point was it a matter of just broadcasting or listing facts and figures. For the viewers, watching the show was a really pleasant experience.’
The feedback from the organisation was more than positive, according to IJfs: ‘Throughout the year, we made several videos with SowiesoHelder, and we shared those on the intranet. You can tell that people have gotten used to this by now. Those videos were so well received that we were asked if we could also present the quarterly meetings in video form. It is clear that this whole project opened the door to an increased use of videos within Vattenfall. That is great, of course, as it offers more opportunities than simply posting texts on intranet every single time.’
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