Active in 100 countries worldwide and employing over 4000 workers in total, Albemarle Corporation is based in Louisiana, a chemical company with 230 million dollar annual turnover and registered on the American stockmarket [NYSE: ALB], listed among Fortune’s top 1000 chemical companies, global developer and dealer of premium quality products for a range of markets from the food industry to electronics.
In 2010, Albemarle Corporation chose Budapest as the site of its financial and service center for supporting its global activity. The company’s decision to expand in Hungary was greatly aided by intervention on part of HIPA and support on part of government as well as the community.
Albemarle Center of Excellence (ACE) global support center aims to highlight an organizational culture in which employees are the company’s main priority. On the opening of Albemarle’s office in Hungary, Stay in Hungary Kft. appointed Barnabás Batta, current CEO at MITTE, and Éva Zanin communications expert to design the communication strategy for Hungarian market debut by supporting HR activity, reaching relevant media, and communicating a campaign organized around an opening ceremony.
AIMS
Our primary set of aims are to introduce Albermale on the Hungarian market, conduct communication in support of the company’s HR activity, as well as to present the organizational culture and company values represented by Albermarle. These aims were facilitated by accessing the relevant economical, design, architecture, art and public media online and offline, as well as HR prioritized channels. Much emphasis was placed on presenting an image of Albermarle as a proactive, responsible corporate entity to the public, thereby positioning Budapest and indeed Hungary as a regional leader in the field of shared service centers.
IMPLEMENTATION
Campaign players
Company headquarters has been set up on the sixth floor of Capital Square office block. This office block is the first Hungarian project from HOCHTIEF Development Hungary Kft., a subsidiary of German HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung, the design by Finta Stúdió awarded Best Office Development 2009 by Construction and Investment Journal.
Selecting the office and furnishings as well as overseeing the project was managed by Albermarle Hungarian representative Ferenc B. Nagy, director of property investment firm Stay in Hungary Kft., along with his partners Barnabás Batta current CEO of MITTE, communications expert Éva Zanin, and design theorist József Martinkó. Joining in the work were the team of young interior decorators Anna Gáti, Gábor Szegő and Ágoston Gyarmati, who set up a minimalistic, yet vitalizing and naturally harmonious space for a Hungarian working environment.
Opening ceremony communication
In association with Stay in Hungary Kft., Albemarle organized an opening ceremony of a magnitude that implemented our business sensitive array of effective communication messages to reach the professional circles. The primary target group for the event were prospective employees. Another secondary priority was the involvement of economic, architecture and design press.
Image communication tools
Executive interviews conducted by Stay in Hungary Kft. Were a starting point for the campaign. Supplimentary multimedia materials presented ACE global service center as a dynamic working environment. In preparing its Budapest office, Albemarle’s motto was ‘Excellence’. This was accentuated in the relevant video materials, aiming to bolster the company’s professional image of authenticity. Based on these image communicational tools, our campaign contributed to supplying management’s key messages with appropriate channels and content.
Integrating PR and HR communications
Integrated in a recruiting and image enhancing campaign, the opening ceremony became a prime platform for addressing prospective employees. According to Stay in Hungary’s statistics, 17% of employees came from employment agencies after the opening ceremony. Efficient and economic PR activity granted Albemarle up to 250,000 USD savings in its HR budget. Our HR-focused communications plan targeted university students in Budapest and the rest of Hungary.
Accessing publicity
Publicity in major economic media boosted Albemarle’s professional image, conveying the company’s key messages and slogans devised in the first phase of the communications strategy’s implementation. Reports on the opening of a global service center and its Hungarian and regional significance were publicized on Menedzserforum.hu, Duna TV, Napi Gazdaság, HVG, Piac és Profit, and the radio stations Gazdasági and Klub Rádió.
Design and art channels
The office space and its novel interior decoration of willbedesign was called to the attention of design and architecture media. Octogon Magazin, Hg.hu, and Design Milk all featured the work of these young Hungarian interior decorators, the family-friendly and team spirited community spaces, functional variability and naturalistic air of the interior. We highlighted the design concept’s focus in the company’s values. Such unique office space design is an example of market competitivity and sophisticated organizational culture fitting seamlessly into a highly creative working space.
Our message
Our comprehensive communicational work for Albemarle exemplifies how a brief economic news piece can be expanded to accommodate a multifaceted corporate success story encompassing business as well as design, boosting professional image as well as contributing to recruiting activity.
