The brief
Allegory was approached to develop a brand, communications assets and guidelines for a new organisation – the UK Agri-Tech Centre. The centre was formed from the merger of three previous centres. Each one had loyal memberships and complex stakeholder networks. All of these had a significant interest in the launch. Our video received 100% positive feedback from these groups. It describes the UK’s largest independent agri-tech organisation, which has the ambition to become a Catapult.
We provided strategic communications advice and PR support for the organisation. We helped to communicate the external announcement of the merger (in October 2023). In April 2024, we worked on the launch of the UK Agri-Tech Centre. Both milestones involved extensive liaison with the Agri-Tech’s funding partner, Innovate UK and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with ministerial involvement.
Our response
First, Allegory held an in-depth branding workshop with the client team to develop the new UK Agri-Tech Centre’s core positioning and identify its key audiences. Following the workshop, we crafted a core mission, vision and purpose. We then built a key message house and developed tone of voice guidelines. These steps ensured that all communications were consistent and told a compelling story as the three centres merged to become one organisation.
Working with our partner design agency, Ergo Creative, we designed and delivered core marketing and communications materials. These included a brand strategy playbook, infographics, videos, social media assets, exhibition stand designs, leaflets and other marketing collateral.
Before the merger’s announcement, we partnered with Innovate UK to build a campaign for delivery across the press, social media, and the web. This included a press release and media sell-in, social media posts, a launch video, and a series of blogs to drive interest in the launch and educate key stakeholders about the aims of the new organisation.
A well-planned six-month editorial calendar supported this, along with social media posting guidelines, newsletter guidelines and a template press release. These materials enabled in-house teams to deliver consistent communications and build a steady drumbeat of momentum during the transition period.
Allegory then conducted extensive media research to inform the April launch communications strategy. Identifying a need to educate the farming media and broader community about the fundamentals of agri-tech and how it can help farmers improve profitability and productivity, we created the ‘What is agri-tech?’ campaign. This was delivered through blogs and editorial articles in key agriculture media.
Finally, we commissioned research with agriculture and food sector decision-makers to create content for the April launch. We drafted a report, The Future of UK Agri-Tech, which we launched to the media in April. The report content was also shared across the UK Agri-Tech Centre’s social media and owned channels to build its position as the leading voice on agri-tech in the UK.
THE OUTCOME
Allegory secured 30 pieces of quality media coverage, including an interview with Chairman of the UK agri-Tech Centre Peter Quinn on BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today programme. We placed articles about the growth of agri-tech in key vertical titles, including Farmers Weekly and Farmers Guardian.
The launch received 100% positive feedback from stakeholders, including the membership of the three original centres, preserving the heritage and credibility of the merged entities.
Online, the UK Agri Tech Centre quickly established more than 6k followers on LinkedIn. The April launch post generated 200 likes, 31 reposts and 12 comments. All the campaign blogs performed well, including the ‘What is Agri-Tech?’ blog, which received 2,188 views. The UK Agri-Tech Centre is outperforming several well-established peer organisations in the sector in terms of both engagement and new followers. The UK Agri-Tech Centre described these results as “very impressive, and in no small part thanks to the groundwork Allegory put in at the start.
Our campaign branding work has also been awarded the Silver Award for Employer Branding at the London Design Awards 2024.
“The ability of the Allegory team to understand our brief in lightning-quick time - and begin executing our requirements immediately - was instrumental to the ultimate success of the merger and launch. Their experience in the UK’s innovation landscape and awareness of the needs of different stakeholders - from ministers to farmers - was invaluable. Working with Allegory was a pleasure and when challenges arose, they were always ready with solutions. We have been delighted with the high-quality foundations that Allegory created for ongoing communications activities, and the continuing success of the UK Agri-Tech Centre.”
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