Fresh off the presses!

Budgets Slashed? No Problem!

July 7, 2009

17 years into our relationship with RBC’s International Wealth Management division, the worst recession since World War 2 slammed into all of us. That didn’t change the need to provide effective communications -- just the way to approach, manage and create them.

June’s International Wealth Management Conference in Miami was the tenth conference of its kind for RBC IWM -- all of which we’re proud to say, have been created by our team. Over the 17 years we’ve provided on-line registration, session themes, stage design, construction, audiovisual equipment, speaker support, music, videos, web-casting, DVD dissemination etc. to ensure these 3 day events are successful.

Create was a particularly appropriate concept this year as we were charged with finding ways to drastically cut costs but still deliver an effective, engaging experience for all attendees -- that was respectful of the economic times.

“Although these conferences are working sessions as opposed to reward trips, attendees feel privileged to be invited,” says McLellan Group CEO Doug McLellan. “Money might be tight but we couldn’t let the participants down. It’s our job to make their experience an engaging and entertaining one, to ensure they are constantly involved and go home better for the experience.”

“We definitely had to be creative,” says Senior Account Manager Beth Stansell. “International travel has always been an important part of the production process but it’s also fairly expensive with air fares, camera crews and hotels. We decided pretty quickly this year that it was hard to justify those costs at this particular time -- so -- out it went!”

In it’s place we recommended two very different approaches to storytelling.

The first involved extensive telephone interviews with key employees globally. These were all recorded and the hours of material was then transferred to our digital edit suites. We then had RBC employees take digital photos of people and places as per our needs … and then email them to us. We used these pictures and a stream-of-consciousness approach to visualization, to create an illustrated, animated series of video vignettes.

“These mini-stories were very well received,” says Beth “and helped shore up the idea that these aren’t business as usual times and that it is possible to be successful by thinking ‘outside the box’."

"The second approach to creating content was very much an ‘inside the box’ idea," says Scott Gillies, Partner and VP Communication Technology.

“We created a global contest and sent a small camera kit (in a box) to all regions around the world with our ‘how-to-make a movie’ instructions, very few rules and a blank video tape. We provided telephone support to help them get the most from their ideas and final editing, but mostly we left it up to them. Their task was to tell their region’s story in 2 minutes or less and to be entertaining. They sure didn’t disappoint! The videos turned out to be fantastic with rounds of applause and a standing ovation. And at the closing dinner ceremony, the out takes blooper video had them rolling in the aisles."

In the end, the only traveling done was by our cameras in Fed-Ex boxes but the results were stellar and significant costs were saved.

“This session is critical to our continued growth” says Stacey Petersen, Head of Business Initiatives, Marketing and Training for IWM. “Given the need to be prudent in our decisions and flexible given the economic realities we face, working with McLellan Group allowed us to bring an impactful and motivating session to our key leaders. Without their creativity, flexibility and continued commitment, our conference would not have had the same impact. The feedback has been exceptional! Thank you so much for helping make it a huge success,"

Bottom line: If you are challenged with communicating effectively with constrained budgets -- give us a call. We can help.

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