Objectives

As the official communications services partner for the London

2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, BT Global Services, the

division of BT that provides managed network IT services, was

responsible for carrying every call, piece of data, image and

sports report for the Games. Needless to say, London 2012 was

a reputation defining moment for BT which is why they sought a

robust thought leadership programme to raise awareness and drive

new business opportunities.

In light of the various business challenges expected during the

Olympics, BT required a communications programme that would

position them as the best partner to provide technology and

know-how to help businesses develop the kind of agility that

London 2012 might demand of them. It needed to raise awareness

and deliver media coverage across business and vertical sector

media channels to prompt customers into considering their state

of business readiness for the Games, and provide a hook for BT

Global Services sales teams to start new customer conversations.

Strategy and plan

BTs strategy was to give business customers the motivation to

consider immediate steps that could help their organisation over the

Olympic summer, whilst also delivering longer-term benefits. Based

on this, the strategy had three strands:

1. To create new content and an online destination that offered

inspiration to businesses considering the challenges and

opportunities offered by London 2012

2. To use the content to engage media in debate and drive coverage

that encouraged businesses to reconsider their state of readiness

3. To leverage BTs heritage of insight around how businesses

coped with the impact of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

as part of a thought leadership programme.

Client: BT GloBal ServiceSCampaign: race To The line: creaTinG a london 2012 SaleS enGaGemenT PlaTform for BTCategOrieS: 19 UniTed KinGdom and ireland (leSS Than 50,000 in feeS); 25 BUSineSS-To-BUSineSS marKeTinG; 65 TechnoloGY: SofTWare & ServiceSagenCy: PorTer novelli

raCe tO the line: Creating a lOndOn 2012 SaleS engagement platfOrm fOr Bt

implementation

The result was the Race to the Line survey: the most authoritative

barometer of UK business sentiment towards London 2012 that

had ever been attempted. Decision-makers from 1,200 private and

public sector organisations were surveyed online in October 2011 and the results compiled into a comprehensive report that

analysed the expected effects of the Games around the country and across both public and private sector organisations in a variety

of different industries.

The research brief incorporated topics ranging from the

preparations being made and perceived opportunities presented by

the Games through to technology topics such as flexible working

and network security. The brief was shared across BT, ensuring

stakeholder buy-in and building anticipation for how the results

could be used within sales and marketing programmes.

During analysis, the London 2012 Race to the Line research results

were combined with findings from previous BT research into the

experience of businesses around Vancouver 2010 to create a story that

revealed a sharp divide between organisations poised to take advantage

of the opportunities that almost a million extra visitors to the country

would bring and those relying on luck to see them through.

The results were compiled into a series of reports, showing the

perspectives of large and small businesses, as well as public versus

private organisations. A set of press releases was developed to tell

the overall business story and tailored perspectives for key vertical

sectors (e.g. retail, financial services, transport). All of these had to

be navigated through a rigorous approvals process.

The research was launched to media through a breakfast roundtable

hosted by BT in London. To ensure a stimulating debate,

spokespeople from the Canadian High Commission, London First,

Visa and Ovum joined BTs President of Global Services and

London Business Director to offer different perspectives around

the table.

To complement the media campaign, BT developed a web page

hosting videos and content encouraging businesses to consider their

state of readiness. It offered a simple self-assessment tool, case

studies on how BT was helping its customers and links to expert

viewpoints on relevant issues such as flexible working and network

security. Businesses could also book a London 2012 showcase visit

to get a demonstration on how BT could support their organisation

to be more agile and resilient.

Campaign content and insight was repackaged for publication

through the BT Viewpoint blog, and followers alerted through

a series of tweets. A crib sheet was also created for the BT sales

teams and a series of briefing calls undertaken to promote how

collateral could be used to open up new conversations with

customers.

A BT marketing campaign was also developed and ran in January

and February 2012, using the research as the basis for messaging

and content. This included print advertisements that drew on the

research findings which appeared in the Economists World in

2012 publication, the Sunday Telegraph and City AM. BT also ran

a series of advertisements titled 12 tips to an extraordinary 2012

in the Evening Standard and Metro, as well as a series of online

ads, that highlighted the need for businesses to prepare for London

2012 and further strengthened BTs position in this area.

results

The media launch was attended by 15 journalists from national

publications including the Daily Telegraph, Mail on Sunday, Reuters,

FT, Evening Standard and vertical titles from sectors ranging from

retail to manufacturing. This made it the best attended media event

BT Global Services had hosted in over two years.

More than 68 pieces of media coverage ensured that the research was

seen by a potential audience in excess of 18 million across the UK.

Message analysis showed BT positively positioned as both a thought

leader on business readiness and in its role as official communications

services partner to London 2012. Coverage also raised the personal

profile of Emer Timmons, the president of BT Global Services UK.

The campaign drove a steady stream of traffic to BTs online

sites. Campaign videos on the BT Viewpoint YouTube channel

were viewed over 1,000 times, while Race to the Line infographics

published on the BT Viewpoint blog attracted over 3,000 views,

making them the highest ranked content on this site of all time.

Positive feedback from BT sales teams suggested that this was one

of the most effective communications campaigns in recent years in

helping them to engage customers in conversations. Individual visits

to the BT Centre Showcase, demonstrating the technology solutions

offered by BT, were arranged for 27 new customers. This generated

26 opportunities to the value of 2.3 million and nurtured 22

opportunities to the value of 76 million.

In total the campaign helped to close sales of a value 71 per cent

higher than the target set, and a pipeline total order value of 35 per

cent higher than the target set.

Client: BT GloBal ServiceS Campaign: race To The line: creaTinG a london 2012 SaleS enGaGemenT PlaTform for BT agenCy: PorTer novelli

The sales figures are given in commercial confidence, for the judges eyes only.