Helping an international inter-governmental organization become a recognized brand leader

Sector?

Minority Issues, Conflict Resolution,

What?

Strategic Communication;Fundraising; Resource Mobilization

Where?

Macedonia

Germany

Kosova

Why?

An intergovernmental think tank headquartered in Germany, ECMI wished to enhance its profile as premier action oriented organization in the field of conflict resolution and transformation in Europe and to expand its portfolio of donor governments. It wanted to harmonize the profile of its field operations with that of its headquarters.
In 2003 I was commissioned to develop a strategy for communications for the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI).

When?

2003

What exactly?

I conducted focus groups and surveys within and outside the organization to understand the prevailing practices and perceptions. I identified bottlenecks and defined target audiences. Then I conceptualized and developed a range of strategic communication products. Tools developed for this purpose were:

1. Strategic Communications document: once presented to the senior management, consensus was built on the recommendations. This document served as a roadmap for implementation of changes.
2. Mission Statement development: the mission statement was re-phrased to reflect the aspirations and expertise of ECMI. It was phrased in a clear straightforward way leaving no scope for ambiguity.
3. Webpresence: the central web site of the organization was completely re-structured to reflect a wide range of programs that the organization was running and the impact that it was having on its beneficiary
4. www.ecmi.de
5. Project/Country web sites: Web sites of individual projects and country offices were restructured and harmonized. A delicate balance was reached between the needs of individual projects (multilingualism, technical features for beneficiary usage etc.) and the need to present one corporate identity.
6. E-Newsletter: Processes were established for information gathering from all of ECMI’s field offices in a timely and organized fashion to be compiled into a monthly E-Newsletter. This newsletter was in a format that allowed the receiving party to connect to the online version which was graphics enabled.
7. Newsletter: Monthly hard copy version of the newsletter was printed for targeted distribution to ensure visibility of the organization and to meet the needs of project beneficiary at sites where the Internet connection was limited.
8. Brochures & Flyers: New brochures were developed from a scratch for the organization, for the country operations and for individual projects in a way that would present a cohesive image without compromising the individuality of the projects.
9. High Profile Events: Conceptualized and organized a high profile international meet under the patronage of the President of Macedonia titled “Minorities in Democracies”. This event turned into a landmark annual event of ECMI in South East Europe, which brought together politicians, policy makers, academicians and practitioners.
10. Road shows: Conceptualized ECMI’s first road show in Berlin 2004. Organized in the form of a Round Table discussion meeting, it gave the funders and decision makers in Berlin an opportunity to interact with ECMI’s brain trust

With- whom?

European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI), Germany

What happened?

The result was a cohesive brand image that attracted long term and framework donors to ECMI.

“ Combined with a strong analytical approach towards problems and challenges he is faced with, and his ability to adapt to almost each and every social context, I have seen Sunoor win immediate trust from the different stakeholders he was dealing with, be it NGO representatives from remote rural areas, government officials, or diplomatic representatives. ”

Matthias Siegfried
SwissPeace
Project Coordinator
Mediation Support Project, Switzerland