Down Arrow

Untangling the threads

Arcadia is a fashion powerhouse. They’re eight much loved brands, with a global reach, 18,000 brilliant people, with a dynamic and vibrant culture. The Arcadia Internal Communications and Engagement team create world-class brand experiences for their people. As you can imagine, it’s a fast-paced, high-energy environment. That means it’s sometimes hard to step back and untangle the threads into a clear and actionable strategic plan. That’s where we came in.

The team first enlisted our help in 2016 to work with them to set their annual strategy – and we snapped up the opportunity like a must have jacket in the Topshop sale. We wanted to help the team to articulate their ambition, align it to the strategic direction of the business and to help gain buy in from their leaders. And we must be doing something right – because we’re about to collaborate on our 4th annual strategy together.

Developing the pattern

In our experience, a few flip charts and a tactical plan doesn’t quite cut it in our ever-challenging communications space. So, we created bespoke interactive sessions to help the team to line up their audiences, channels, objectives, stakeholders, narratives, change programmes and challenges (and everything in between).

We took what we heard and from there, we translated it into a robust strategy and tangible plan. We look to establish the right infrastructure for a strong, strategic team, but we also work with the team to develop annual showcase projects that really shift mindset. The recent implementation of an innovation and ideas campaign saw Arcadia change their benefits and perks model, a direct result of empowering employees.

For the first time, Arcadia have also communicated their corporate strategy to their employees. An ambition we thought was out of reach a year ago. This summer, we’ve helped Arcadia visually articulate their strategy and engage their people in the part they play in the delivery.

Showcase your style

For all Internal Comms teams, bringing your stakeholders on the journey is a critical part of this exercise, and the same was true for the team at Arcadia. They wanted to position the internal communications team as a strategic partner – key to realising the company’s big ambitions. We’ve worked with the team to make sure they had both the visuals and the talking points to bring their strategy to life on an ongoing basis.

“Home have taken the time to develop a real understanding of both our team and our business. Armed with this knowledge, they successfully steer our sessions to ensure that our thinking remains high level and, with their guidance, we are always guaranteed to come away with very clear outputs. I cannot recommend these sessions highly enough and we are already looking forward to planning our approach for 2020 with Home help”

Maria O’Connell, Senior Group Internal Communications manager, Arcadia

We often measure our success by the success of our clients. We’re big believers that we enable them to achieve big things, both for their teams and as individuals. We’re delighted to watch Maria and her team continue to progress within the business and cement their status as a high performing department.

Download full case study pdf

Sign up for insights and updates

Don't worry, we won't spam you with emails every day, just the occasional case study, inspiring communication or COVID-19 updates that we think may be of value to you.

Kate Lines

Client Services Director

+44 [0] 7786 935 195

Connect

Hattie Roche

Co-Managing Director and Strategy Chief

+44 [0] 7850 491 827

Connect

Carol Whitworth

Founder / Inspiration & Innovation Director

+44 [0] 7710 163 499

Connect