H/Advisors Cicero was commissioned to support thyssenkrupp Steel (tk Steel) in their lobbying efforts around the European Green Deal. We were tasked with helping the business push for reforms that make the necessary decarbonisation process commercially viable for the steel industry. The brief covered a wide array of policy areas ranging from state aid to sustainable finance and the hydrogen economy.
Strategy & Execution
H/Advisors commenced the engagement with several insight and analysis sessions to bring tk Steel up to speed on all areas of the Green Deal that would impact their business. This was followed by several strategy and messaging sessions to set out objectives, a detailed and live 600+stakeholder powermap of tiered and prioritized targets across all EU institutions and a message house with positioning on key policy areas.
We then developed detailed position papers, which were shared with Commission and Parliament targets, we prepared pre- and post- engagement briefings for C-Suite level Commissioner meetings setting out goals and next steps, and we kept our client abreast of the latest state of play on all relevant policy areas. This provided the appropriate groundwork for our direct engagement programme
Recognising the necessity of these green reforms whilst also ensuring that they were fit for industries such as the steel-making industry was critical for legislative success. tk Steel recognised the balance that needed to struck across the public affairs strategy, messaging and tactical approach. It was this awareness that ultimately led to the significant cut-through we achieved – outlining tk as a fair and considered stakeholder, rather than a market actor looking to create favourable market conditions
Helena Walsh, Managing Director Brussels
Results
tk Steel has met with 4 Commissioners inputting directly into the EU’s Green Deal policy agenda and is well placed to continue engagement throughout the 1st reading of the Fit for 55 package files. EU Taxonomy developments and new reporting requirements were flagged to the relevant compliance teams ahead of schedule providing an increased timespan for internal transition and allowing for positioning to be revised and circulated to legislators prior to final adoption.
If you wish to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this article, please contact Helena in H/Advisors Cicero’s Brussels team on helena.walsh@h-advisors.global
H/Advisors Cicero was tasked with helping Energy Networks Association (ENA), the UK’s energy network trade body, to understand the key issues and challenges for the energy networks among their key external audiences. This included relevant senior decision makers and thought leaders across politics, regulators, think tanks and academics as well as consumer groups.. H/Advisors Cicero were tasked with engaging relevant individuals across these groups to glean insights into their perspective on pressing topics and foreseen challenges for the networks.
Strategy & Execution
H/Advisors Cicero identified a core stakeholder list amongst the key audiences and designed a discussion guide in collaboration with the ENA, ensuring we were targeting the right audiences with the right questions.
H/Advisors Cicero leveraged our reputation as a heavyweight strategic communications agency to engage with these hard-to-reach audiences, as many relevant candidates were already present in the H/Advisors networks or aware of the quality of the research we undertake. We embarked on a series of 30 in-depth interviews in Spring 2021, with conversations lasting up to an hour, across wider stakeholders. The conversations were tailored to the individual’s area of interest in order to maximise the level of insight garnered from each conversation.
Putting the interests of the networks first, and not assuming they hold a complete understanding of the wider stakeholder universe their members wish to engage, the Energy Network Association spent their time really understanding their members stakeholders. We collaborated on every step, allowing our research knowledge to marry with ENA’s industry knowledge to create harmonious outputs that provided actionable insight for their members. To hear that members have directly integrated the findings into their communications and wider corporate approach is what our research team wish to achieve across every project.
Andrew Roberts, Chief Creative Officer
Results
H/Advisors Cicero produced a report based on the insight gathered from these conversations to share with its membership. This covered the key challenges the sector faces, the political and regulatory requirements to overcome them and the preferred forms of engagement tactics from the Networks to reach external stakeholders going forward.
The insight report informed the ENA’s membership on how to improve communications across the Networks, particularly given the growing interest by external audiences in the energy sector as a whole. Their membership applauded the publications of the findings, noting that it served as a framework within which they could develop their own communications and wider corporate approaches.
If you wish to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this article, please contact Andrew in H/Advisors Cicero’s Campaigns team on andrew.roberts@h-advisors.global
Global infrastructure firm, AECOM, places a huge emphasis on holding its position as an industry though leader across sustainable building in Ireland and across the world . For the past four years H/Advisors Cicero has been supporting AECOM to ensure this focus is conveyed through the relevant media and engages all relevant business and political stakeholders. Our brief also includes devising and executing an annual media campaign to promote the publication of AECOM’s review of the construction industry for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Strategy & Execution
Our strategic corporate communications plan supports AECOM in identifying key messages and news hooks contained within the insights delivered via their annual report. We then package our messaging into detailed and engaging stories that fuel a media campaign across broadcast, print and online media across the island of Ireland.
We hone the content across relevant themes important to government, business, and society in general including projected growth for the constructions sector, indicative price increases and the impact of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our support involves briefing key business journalists on the work AECOM is doing and the significance of the annual forecasts. We also media train and provide detailed briefings to key senior AECOM spokespeople ahead of all media engagements. AECOM launches the annual report each year at an event in Dublin and one in Belfast which we manage for them bringing together all relevant stakeholders to discuss the content of the review.
Over the four years we have supported AECOM in delivering awareness around all that they do to promote and instil the values behind sustainable construction practices, we have seen a marked acceleration in the topics relevance but also competition for the thought leadership position. I believe it’s the authentic and determined ambitions of both AECOM and H/Advisors Cicero that result in continually higher coverage and engagement across top tier media, policymakers and wider industry stakeholders
Susan Keogh, Director Irish Corporate Communications
Results
Every year, our support results in extensive media coverage of AECOM’s annual report along with large numbers of industry stakeholders attending the launch events in Dublin and Belfast. We have placed AECOM across all Tier 1 outlets across the island of Ireland including key interviews on RTE’s Morning Ireland, RTE’s One O’clock Television News, Newstalk’s Breakfast Business, BBC News and UTV News. The report is also traditionally covered by all major press outlets including the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Irish Examiner and Belfast Telegraph along with all construction trade publications. As a result AECOM remains the go-to voice on sustainable construction and infrastructure.
If you wish to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this article, please contact Susan in H/Advisors Cicero’s Dublin team on susan.keogh@h-advisors.global
H/Advisors Cicero has been the retained Government Affairs provider to Wales & West Utilities (WWU) since 2018. We have been tasked with providing insight and analysis on policy matters as well as increasing Wales & West’s profile with Parliamentarians and policymakers. This includes building a clearer understanding of WWU’s importance to Wales and the South West, as well as the importance of gas in Wales and the South West future energy mix. Support also includes public affairs engagement during potential crisis scenarios, highlighting WWU’s role as the gas emergency service for the region.
Strategy & Execution
Through a regular meeting programme, H/Advisors has raised Wales & West Utilities’ profile among MPs, Members of the Welsh Parliament and key regulatory stakeholders highlighting their positive role in the region. This included profiling their thought leadership on the importance of gas in the future energy mix and their involvement in future energy solutions, such as hybrid heating systems and hydrogen gas.
H/Advisors Cicero have also continued to support WWU’s corporate strategy by providing regular and timely advice and analysis on relevant Government policy and political change. As a utilities provider, WWU finds itself at the centre of major policy priorities, during a time of recent turbulence in UK politics. H/Advisors Cicero’s advice and analysis is considered invaluable in shaping the future company strategy.
Wales and West Utilities have successfully demonstrated the importance of simultaneously increasing regional and UK-wide policymaker engagement to allow better engagement in local conversations about the future energy mix and sustainability agenda that affect local people.
Tom Wilkins, Director UK Public Affairs
Results
The project was challenging given Wales & West Utilities had a low profile amongst politicians and regulatory stakeholders. However, the project has demonstrated our ability to raise our client’s profile amongst their key stakeholders as well as allow them to feed into key debates that will define the future energy mix in Wales and the South West.
WWU now hold a profile with MPs and ministers that enables them to engage in constructive conversations that help WWU support its customers during in a complex and ever changing political and industry landscape.
If you wish to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this article, please contact Tom in H/Advisors Cicero’s UK Public Affairs team on tom.wilkins@h-advisors.global
Brief
H/Advisors Cicero supported Bombardier with corporate communications, monitoring and intelligence and government affairs. Our brief included highlighting Bombardier’s innovative technology and position as a leading player in electric and battery powered trains.
Strategy and execution
H/Advisors Cicero provided detailed daily monitoring to Bombardier on political and competitor developments as well as a biweekly monitoring and intelligence report. We also created a political engagement campaign which was effectively executed. Our corporate communications programme included tier-1 media interviews about electric and battery powered trains and on how important it is for governments to convert to this form of transport to meet EU carbon emission targets.
Result
Our government affairs support resulted in meetings with business ministers and ministers responsible for transport and climate. H/Advisors Cicero also organised and chaired a climate change and transportation stakeholder event on behalf of Bombardier in Q4 2020. The event was attended by politicians, representatives of transport bodies and industry stakeholders.
Brief
The DRIVEN Consortium is a leading consortium of companies created to further cement the UK’s reputation as a world-leader in the development of autonomous vehicles. H/Advisors Cicero was commissioned to produce nine promotional vehicles (one per member) created from footage of its first autonomous vehicle summit.
Strategy and execution
H/Advisors Cicero created a storyboard of the proposed videos and agreed these with each consortium member, with a footage itinerary agreed in advance and interviews were scheduled ahead of the event.
All interviews and footage were captured within eight hours during the event.
An initial video was then produced and a first edit was sent to each member who then fed back changes, before final films were delivered and distributed across the members’ owned channels.
Result
- Two-minute promotional videos were produced for all nine organisations involved with the consortium.
- A further promotional video was commissioned combining the aspects of each individual video to demonstrate how each member is contributing to the initiative (above)
