THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

The European Commission is the European Union’s executive body, proposing legislation, enforcing European law, setting objectives and priorities for action, managing the implementation of EU policies and representing the Union in the international arena.

Our expertise in EU policies, our full spectrum of communication services as well as our creativity and attention to the quality of our outputs have led European Commission Directorate Generals to entrust us with the management and delivery of multiple communication assignments.

Mission

Several of our missions were conducted for the DG DEVCO (Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development).

Our objectives focused on the effective dissemination of information on the major DEVCO issues, on the implementation of EU development policies and their results, success stories and impact of EU action as well as on building synergies and coherence across policies. The analytical work and gathered knowledge needed a maximum of resonance and valorisation across the expert and political audiences in Europe as well as at international level – transforming a rich raw material into a shared impactful communication tool!

A second objective was to stimulate the debate and to raise the awareness of European citizens, partner countries, developing and emerging economies and other stakeholders about the current and future challenges.

Approach

The diversity of the subjects treated by the numerous assignments enforced the need to develop individual and tailor-made communication campaigns and communication tools in order to allow each of them to get in the deserved political and public spotlight. At the same time, thanks to our familiarity with the issues and long-term work relationship, we approached these assignments through an integrated communication strategy, responding to the overall objectives of DG DEVCO.

Through existing communication tools and well-orchestrated channels, we articulated our communication campaigns to reflect the continuity of EU engagement, the synergies across fields as well as the relevance of new activities and the magnitude of the results. We created stimulus through events and workshops; we transformed the technical content through journalistic copywriting & editing, through compelling graphic design and powerful videos; we engaged our extensive media and press network and we brought outreach and visibility through our web communication & social media expertise.

Results

We edited hundreds of pages of reporting and used our journalistic expertise to turn them into easy and attractive reading for all audiences while extracting powerful key messages and compelling calls to action. Our graphic artists designed original visual identities bringing excitement and dynamics into reports, brochures, leaflets, e-books as well as other branded communication materials such as posters, roll-ups, pens. Data and tables benefited from visual enhancement; captivating infographics morphed numbers into human stories shared widely on social media.

Our carefully-prepared high-level roundtables in the European Commission headquarters, numerous launch events and interactive workshops in and outside Europe reached the top of the agenda of EU Commissioners, Members of the European Parliament, high-level EU staff, Member States representatives and renowned academia. Our skilfully-orchestrated press work and media outreach lifted years of research and field work to main features on mainstream journals such as Le Monde, The Guardian and in European and international specialised press.

Managing the whole communication tools’ production chain, we also provided quality translation (in the 23 European languages) and printing services for numerous materials.

Conclusion

Our communication expertise and efficiency, our understanding and close attention to the smallest and sensitive needs, the effectiveness of our deliverables have transformed each and every assignment with DG DEVCO into a success story. It has led to a fruitful and trustworthy collaboration over the years in a field where political attention and performance are the master words.

It became an example for transforming the extensive technical work of an institution and its officers into a rewarding and recognised result at the core of the European Commission and Member States policy discussions, part of the dialogue with key international actors as well as playing its positive role in the life of millions of people.