Valassis
Project title: Stakeholder engagement and issues management
The brief
Valassis planned to relocate (or ‘outsource’) 90% of its workforce from Corby in the UK to Poland. They realised the announcement would cause significant issues locally and regionally among key stakeholders which included employees and political influencers. International Insights was asked to develop and implement a comprehensive stakeholder communications programme over a seven-month period in 2007.
The solution
We undertook a stakeholder audit and identified those key influencers to be enrolled ahead of the announcement. We then prepared key materials, including Q&As for staff, plus external communications and materials for key stakeholders which included local government officials, national supermarket chains and well-known retail companies..
We also arranged pre-announcement briefings with the local MP and Conservative and Liberal Democrat Trade & Industry spokesmen, the Secretary of State at the then-DTI (now DBERR), suppliers, external staff agencies, media (British and Polish, national and local) and the US stock exchange (where Valassis is listed).
We conducted one-on-one media training for the Valassis MD, wrote his speech making the announcement to staff and rehearsed it with him. In addition, we developed a bespoke ‘Cascade Announcement Matrix’ to ensure all stakeholders were communicated with in strict sequence.
The results
Ultimately, the announcement was met with an increase in Valassis’ share price; no industrial relations action ensued amongst the workforce, with only muted media criticism in the UK, and positive media coverage in Poland. The International Insights team was commended by Valassis for a “highly professional and very effective piece of consultancy.”