The background
The brief
Our challenge was to devise and implement a campaign to engage time-poor staff, at all levels in the organisation, in a global act of collaboration and charity. This had twin ambitions: to raise money for virtuous causes; and make a positive contribution to C&A business performance through more engaged employees.
Logistical and technological hurdles to overcome included: inconsistent speed and coverage of national data networks; varying levels of smartphone use; integration with different social networks; and the need to deliver shared and country-specific content for more than 51,000 employees across almost 2,000 stores in 21 countries worldwide.
What we did
Theme and mechanic development
Logo and campaign identity design
Design and production of campaign toolkits
Technological audit and research
Website architecture and UX design
Responsive web page visual design
Front-end and back-end development
Content population
Live campaign support and technical helpdesk
Collaborators
Campaign development: Context Partners
Web development: Evil Donkey
Copywriting: Sequel Group
Project Evaluation: Cornish Grey
The background
C&A is a global retailer of affordable fashion operating across Europe, South America and China. The C&A Foundation wanted to engage staff in its philanthropic activity supporting charities around the world.
In 2015 C&A launched their first Inspiring campaign and in 2016 we got involved. Recognising the brand’s predominantly female workforce, supply chain and customer base, in 2016 we helped to trial the first Inspiring Women campaign across South America and China and in 2017 the rest of the C&A global family joined in.
In 2018 the theme shifted to Inspiring World, a campaign that was more closely aligned to C&A’s sustainability agenda to ‘create fashion with a positive impact’ by asking employees: “What’s your dream for a better world for everyone?”
The brief
Our challenge was to devise and implement a campaign to engage time-poor staff, at all levels in the organisation, in a global act of collaboration and charity. This had twin ambitions: to raise money for virtuous causes; and make a positive contribution to C&A business performance through more engaged employees.
Logistical and technological hurdles to overcome included: inconsistent speed and coverage of national data networks; varying levels of smartphone use; integration with different social networks; and the need to deliver shared and country-specific content for more than 51,000 employees across almost 2,000 stores in 21 countries worldwide.
What we did
Theme and mechanic development
Logo and campaign identity design
Design and production of campaign toolkits
Technological audit and research
Website architecture and UX design
Responsive web page visual design
Front-end and back-end development
Content population
Live campaign support and technical helpdesk
Collaborators
Campaign development: Context Partners
Web development: Evil Donkey
Copywriting: Sequel Group
Project Evaluation: Cornish Grey
Indifference obliterated
1,973,440
Raised for NGOs to support beneficiaries across the world since 2016
64
Average participation rate for 2016 – 2018 campaigns vs a Fortune 500 benchmark of 21%
61,885
Number of participants that have taken part in the 2016 – 2018 campaigns
Indifference obliterated
1,973,440
Raised for NGOs to support beneficiaries across the world since 2016
64
Average participation rate for 2016 – 2018 campaigns vs a Fortune 500 benchmark of 21%
61,885
Number of participants that have taken part in the 2016 – 2018 campaigns
Employee engagement enhanced
Since 2015, the Inspiring campaigns have had a positive impact on employee engagement. Not only has there been an upswing in participation numbers but there has also been encouraging changes to employee attitudes about C&A.
Pulling an emotional trigger
The campaign mechanics involved participants sharing their stories and dreams for gender equality and sustainability issues such as peace, education, justice, organic agriculture, and recycling. The bespoke campaign websites then enabled employees to vote for the NGO of their choice and trigger a donation.
Pulling an emotional trigger
The campaign mechanics involved participants sharing their stories and dreams for gender equality and sustainability issues such as peace, education, justice, organic agriculture, and recycling. The bespoke campaign websites then enabled employees to vote for the NGO of their choice and trigger a donation.
Putting the participant first
To encourage participation we leveraged existing social behaviours – grab your phone and share a selfie, write a short comment, tap on a box to vote – what’s not to enjoy.
“By creating a clever approach to taking a “selfie” – something that many of our employees do often – and connecting the theme of the campaign to our company values we were able to engage over 65% of our global workforce, which is an unprecedented level for leading companies.”
Jeffrey Hogue
Chief Sustainability Officer C&A Global & Board Member C&A Foundation (2018)
Putting the participant first
To encourage participation we leveraged existing social behaviours – grab your phone and share a selfie, write a short comment, tap on a box to vote – what’s not to enjoy.
“By creating a clever approach to taking a “selfie” – something that many of our employees do often – and connecting the theme of the campaign to our company values we were able to engage over 65% of our global workforce, which is an unprecedented level for leading companies.”
Jeffrey Hogue
Chief Sustainability Officer C&A Global & Board Member C&A Foundation (2018)
Finding a shared language
The campaigns had to work for thousands of C&A employees across more than twenty countries. In 2016 and 2017 speech bubbles and retail swing tags provided the global recognition required. In 2018 we introduced a dreamscape theme which inspired employees to share their dreams for a better future.
Finding a shared language
The campaigns had to work for thousands of C&A employees across more than twenty countries. In 2016 and 2017 speech bubbles and retail swing tags provided the global recognition required. In 2018 we introduced a dreamscape theme which inspired employees to share their dreams for a better future.
Slow doesn’t mean no
Designed mobile first – we developed the technology to be as bandwidth friendly as possible – so that slow connections, in territories such as Brazil and Mexico, were no barrier to participation.
Slow doesn’t mean no
Designed mobile first – we developed the technology to be as bandwidth friendly as possible – so that slow connections, in territories such as Brazil and Mexico, were no barrier to participation.
Behind the scenes
We created bespoke technology to allow participants to share their stories and vote, and in 2018 we upgraded the functionality to enable video uploads and group voting.
We initiated an automated image and text moderation process that keeps the campaign free from any obscene or offensive material. We also developed a customised dashboard to deliver real-time campaign data to the C&A Foundation team.
Behind the scenes
We created bespoke technology to allow participants to share their stories and vote, and in 2018 we upgraded the functionality to enable video uploads and group voting.
We initiated an automated image and text moderation process that keeps the campaign free from any obscene or offensive material. We also developed a customised dashboard to deliver real-time campaign data to the C&A Foundation team.
Brand integration
Every year the website and all the printed support material is designed to work within the bounds of the C&A visual identity and online guidelines.
Brand integration
Every year the website and all the printed support material is designed to work within the bounds of the C&A visual identity and online guidelines.
