Author Archives: Michael Hoevel

University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)

By , , ,

The Challenge: The CISL is an impact-led institute within the University of Cambridge that activates leadership globally to transform economies for people, nature and climate. They approached Marchmont for support with ensuring their groundbreaking report that outlined a practical pathway to building effective insurance schemes for those vulnerable to climate risk had a tangible policy impact – specifically at the Third Financing for Development Conference (FFD3) in Addis Ababa in July 2015.

Our Approach: To achieve this, Marchmont:

  • Supported CISL in writing a policy brief that summarised the report’s key findings, which we recommended releasing at the International Insurance Summit in New York, which industry leaders and key UN decision makers would attend.
  • Released the policy brief to journalists under an embargo that lifted during the report author’s presentation at the IIS.

Outcomes:

  • Media coverage that hit during the week of the policy brief launch was read and commented on by influential leaders in the insurance industry, and an in-depth BBC article was read and praised by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.
  • Following media attention, Dr Ana Gonzalez Pelaez, co-author of report, was invited onto a high level panel at the FFD3 conference, to present her findings and recommendations.
  • The full report went live in conjunction with her panel session and to date the report has been covered by The Guardian, Reuters, Inter Press Service, SciDev and Devex, in addition to the BBC.

Sustainable Investment Management

By , , , , ,

The Challenge: The leaders of Sustainable Investment Management asked Marchmont to promote the launch of an innovative green bonds scheme to finance sustainable soy production in Brazil across the full spectrum of target audiences from green finance to trade, environment and agriculture. The initiative involved national and multilateral partners including the UK government, UN Environment and Climate Policy Lab.

Our Approach: To achieve this, Marchmont:

  • Developed media materials ahead of the launch event while also engaging with a top tier journalist over moderating a panel discussion at the session.
  • Leveraged the news context and agenda to pitch widely and successfully across target media.

Outcomes:

  • The launch of the Responsible Commodities Facility was covered by the Financial Times and Xinhua news agency as well as specialist trade media such as Business Green and FeedNavigator.
  • Marchmont also secured an FTfm reporter, Jennifer Thompson, to moderate the in-person panel.

CGIAR

By , , ,

The Challenge: CGIAR is the largest publicly funded agricultural research network in the world. Over the past two decades, Marchmont has worked closely with CGIAR supporting key communications work. From advising past leadership and boards to driving campaigns, press outreach, field visits, and op-eds.

Our Approach: To advance this work, Marchmont has:

  • Led media planning and outreach, aligning CGIAR’s work to the external news agenda – from climate change and migration to Covid-19.
  • Accurately and sensitively translated relevant scientific topics into more media-facing pitches and commentary.
  • Supported CGIAR around key events including Climate Week, the UN climate talks and the World Food Prize, as well as key launches of CGIAR initiatives such as their Crops to End Hunger initiative and their Covid-19 Hub.
  • Organised and managed the COP28 virtual press office, amplifying key investment cases for agri-food systems transformation.

Outcomes:

Farming First

By

The Challenge: For more than a decade, Farming First was a global agricultural coalition with around 200 supporter organisations. Marchmont provided day-to-day support for the coalition, managing communications and outreach (including website, blog, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube) as well as producing regular campaigns around key policy themes. However, in 2022, Farming First sought to shift its role from an advocacy coalition to an information hub, elevating case studies, news and thought leadership around agricultural innovation for development.

Our Approach: To help launch and build up the new Farming First platform, Marchmont:

  • Developed a brand new website suited to better promote blog articles and thought leaders.
  • Refreshed the Farming First brand to help maintain recognition while giving it a more up-to-date look.
  • Onboarded the 200+ supporters as contributors, facilitating various meetings to outline the transition and address new inquiries. Contributors include key external organisations such as the FAO, UNFSS, WFP, International Science Council, International Seed Federation (ISF) and more.
  • Provides day-to-day management of the social media channels and the editorial pipeline for blog content.
  • Leads strategic partnership and outreach efforts for both media and funding.
  • Curates spotlight series on Farming First’s website covering leading topics in the sector, for example, the importance of trade in agriculture and also the post-Malabo agenda and Africa’s food systems.

Outcomes:

  • Farming First has one of the biggest followings on social media for agricultural innovation advocacy organisations, with 66,300+ followers on X and 23,000+ followers on LinkedIn.
  • Farming First has featured agricultural innovation expert voices such as Kenyan Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry’s Sopian Tuya, AGRA’s Agnes Kalibata, the International Seed Federation’s Michael Keller, the African Union’s Hamady Diop, CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform’s Nicoline de Haan and many more.
  • From opinion pieces to news and case studies, in 2024, more than 100 articles were published on Farming First’s website, achieving more than 163,681 interactions from users around the world. 
  • The Farming First newsletter introduced to LinkedIn in March 2024 has over 8,000 subscribers, in addition to the over 4000 already subscribed through Mailchimp.
  • Farming First has brokered partnerships with the United Nations, Chatham House, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the Economist, the World Food Prize and the Chicago Council among others, also acting as media partner at global food and agriculture events including the Borlaug Dialogue.

The Malabo Montpellier Panel

By , , , , , ,

The Challenge: The Malabo Montpellier Panel seeks to influence European and African donors on effective ways to support poverty reduction through investment in sustainable African agriculture. Its bi-annual reports provide evidence and analysis of key topics such as soil management, climate change, energy, innovation and livestock. Their aim is to reach senior policy makers and key stakeholders, beyond just the scientific community, and demonstrate how and why they may provide agricultural support.

Our Approach: To elevate the Malabo Montpellier Panel’s visibility and influence, Marchmont:

  • Leads media planning and outreach and prepares a detailed outreach plan, including media materials, story angles, case studies and external news hooks. 
  • Conducts embargoed media outreach ahead of each launch date and positions panel members via opinion editorials.

Outcomes:

The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ)

By , , , , , , ,

The Challenge: The ​​German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) works to shape a future worth living around the world. They approached Marchmont for support with shaping the content of a comprehensive guide for policymakers that they had written in partnership with the Overseas Development Institute. The report aimed to capture the policy areas where consensus exists as well as where debates and uncertainties still remain in which interventions work for agricultural development.

Our Approach: To achieve this, Marchmont:

  • Worked with the report authors to craft new messages for the report; restructured and edited it.
  • Designed the report and produced an infographic (English and French versions) to help with the report’s later outreach both online and in workshops throughout Africa.

Outcomes: 

  • The report in both English and French and infographic were shared across the continent (view the full report here).

Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)

By , , , , ,

The challenge: As an EU-funded institution supporting smallholder farmers in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP), CTA approached marchmont for support with communicating its achievements and also support throughout its closure – by raising awareness, celebrating CTA’s lasting legacy and raising the profile of its partners and beneficiaries on the ground.

Our Approach: To achieve this, Marchmont:

  • Delivered media outreach support, carrying out an assessment of CTA’s initiatives, case studies and success stories before developing year-long plans to showcase its work in its key regions.
  • This involved a combination of monthly opinion pieces, regular media outreach campaigns and on-site media field visits in Africa and the Caribbean. 
  • Mapped out an eight-month media plan, including monthly editorials, media bursts around set dates and creative communications support for its social media channels.

Outcomes:

Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group

By , , ,

The challenge: As a network of progressive business leaders, convened at the University of Cambridge, the Corporate Leaders Group represents a diverse range of industries with a common goal: to advocate for a clear and unequivocal target for net zero emissions across Europe. They approached Marchmont for support with media planning and strategy development.

Our Approach: To achieve this, Marchmont:

  • Provided a bespoke service that combined long-term strategy and communications such as the coordination of an open letter, with the agility of responding to opportunities that emerged organically from the news cycle.
  • Generating media opportunities on-site at the Global Climate Action Summit, and engaged with journalists around timely topics such as the phase-out of halogen lightbulbs in Europe.

Outcomes:

Gillian Hadfield

By , , , ,

The Challenge: To promote her book, Rules for a Flat World, Professor Gillian Hadfield approached Marchmont for support including a revision of her website, messaging, media outreach and social media management – all of which would showcase the range of legal and economic issues for which she is known.

Our Approach: To achieve this, Marchmont:

  • Established a consistent and engaging brand identity, including a revision of Prof. Hadfield’s website and Twitter account, and also developing a policy brief based on her book’s main themes. 
  • Developed monthly thought leadership pieces, published in diverse top tier publications as well as arranging interviews to raise the client’s profile.

Outcomes:

  • Within the first three months, Prof. Hadfield was published by Reuters, LA Times, The Hill, Quartz, and TechCrunch, as well as trade publications Evolve Law/Above the Law, and ABA Journal. 
  • Prof. Hadfield’s Twitter following increased by 50 per cent with a 15-fold increase in impressions from 9,300 to almost 145,000. Prof. Hadfield received several invitations to write articles or essays, and give interviews.

Livestock Global Alliance

By , , ,

The Challenge: The Livestock Global Alliance was formed to encourage and inform livestock-related policy dialogue, investments and analytical work and is a joint initiative of the World Bank, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the three United Nations agricultural agencies based in Rome. They approached Marchmont to help them develop a suite of communications materials which would position themselves as thought leaders and advocates.

Our Approach: To achieve this, Marchmont:

  • Led insights and planning work which led to the realisation that livestock storytelling is about humans as much as it’s about animals. This led to the development of the tagline, “Sustainable Livestock, Sustainable Lives”.
  • Developed a set of key messages and supporting evidence, an animated video, GIFs, an infographic, a PowerPoint template and a corporate video featuring the main LGA spokespeople.
  • Created custom illustrations which were used throughout the materials developed – adding visual energy and consistency.

Outcomes:

  • Successfully managed a geographically dispersed group of clients and delivered all of the materials under a tight deadline.