NAB Leadership Matters

The Client

National Australia Bank

Timing

October 2017

The Project

The People Team at NAB were embarking on a 12-month Leadership Development program with key messaging to be reinforced with their top 1000 executives. Cultural and behavioural change is often the most critical and challenging task within a large organisation such as this, and for NAB it started with internal brand building from the top down. To launch the program, a one-day forum was held in Melbourne at Peninsula, Central Pier. We were responsible for managing this important event from start to finish. We transformed the cavernous space and ensured every one of the 1000 guests received VIP treatment – a seamless welcome, a great view, plus delicious and timely refreshments. We looked after project management, collateral creation, venue management and technical production. And because we are a full-service brand strategy agency, we were well placed to bring their brand to life and make value add suggestions to improve message delivery and retention. We also took literally hours of footage that will be used for cascading the messaging to the entire organisation.

The Interesting Bit

This was the first time NAB had gathered the top 1000 executives for anything, and of the 1150 invitees only 12 declined – the agenda was literally that compelling. The event was primarily about 1000 people listening and watching one person, so we needed to design the event so that everyone had a perfect view in a flat floored room, which we did by building a seating layout in a perfect curve all focussed on the presentation point. With over 50% of the content arriving on the day with the presenters, we had to be ready to provide full presenter presentation support on the fly, and this happened seamlessly. Facilitating effective Q+A for such a large group can be difficult so we bought 6 catchbox microphones [throwable mics] to inject some energy and fun into the sessions. We performed an on-the-fly edit from 2 roaming cameras and two fixed cameras to provide a closing video of the event which the last image was shot only 8 minutes before playout – nothing like a deadline to keep things interesting!

The Results

  • Audience engagement like we have never seen before>
  • 1000 delegates registered, seated, fed, and watered, and a perfect on-time finish
  • 400 pieces of luggage managed
  • Over 500 photos and 20 hrs of video footage captured
  • The venue had a dinner for 700 in the evening after our event so planning for the changeover had to be meticulous. We were clear of the venue 42 minutes after the end of the event
  • We are now in discussions about the next stages of the program with the client