CorpComms Magazine

When Bob Ayling became chief executive of British Airways in 1996, he was faced with mutinous pilots, striking cabin crew and plummeting staff morale. In an effort to improve the situation and keep employees fully informed about and engaged with the airline, Ayling established British Airways' first internal TV station.

Every week at allotted times, British Airways employees tuned in to watch a programme about the company. Staff were also invited to contribute their observations - according to one audience member, these made somewhat uncomfortable viewing for the management of the company.

BA TV ran for four years and, at the time, was viewed as a success. Staff were better informed than ever before but, alas, knowledge did not bring happiness.

British Airways isn't the only company to run a TV station. Several banks and retailers operate similar schemes, and many international companies link staff around the world in live and interactive broadcasts.

Back in the 1950s, Shell had a film unit that produced corporate videos to educate staff about the oil company. 'They were always fronted by a 'Miles Cholmondley-Warner' [comedian Harry Enfield's take on the stuffy TV presenters of the 1950s] type,' explains Stephen Watson, managing director of CTN Communications. 'Today's video communications must engage and entertain staff as well as telling a story, sharingtheir aspirations, moods and language. Employees are very sophisticated viewers.'

Believe your eyes

'It is the age-old problem that also faces media,' explains one internal communications expert. 'People read newspapers, but they might not actually believe what they read. If the same item appears on the News at Ten, however, it somehow assumes far more credibility - and, perhaps more importantly, people remember what they saw better than what they read.'

Pete Stevenson, director of The Edge Picture Company, whose strapline is 'Communication that opens eyes and changes minds', adds: 'You can tell people something until you are blue in the face. What a film allows you to do is to help them get it. They believe without thinking about it.'

The marketplace has evolved and become increasingly sophisticated. Many internal communications videos are as dramatic and visually stunning as the short films shown at arthouse cinemas. 'I always say to clients that we are showing these videos to staff who will go home and watch the television or go to the cinema, and unless you can engage in the same kind of way, the whole thing is pointless,'says Stevenson.

'There is a huge amount of talent in this industry,' agrees Watson. 'We are certainly not a poor relation to the broadcast industry.'

Internal video communications can take many forms. Some organisations, such as tobacco company BAT, Scottish & Newcastle and the Royal Navy, produce monthly or quarterly newsletterstyle DVDs that are distributed among staff. Others prefer one-off videos to highlight a particular message or inform employees of a new development. BP, for example, produced a documentary in association with Take 3 covering the construction and development of the Rhum oilfield in the North Sea. The oilfield, which was in development for over 20 years, is viewed as a major engineering achievement for BP. 'The programme is a fantastic record that will also be used to help communicate processes and ideas for other major engineering and development projects,' explains Claudia Schneider, client services manager at Take 3.

Best defence

The Ministry of Defence approached CTN almost two years ago to work on a video communication to improve morale among the younger members of the Royal Navy. Watson explains: 'A decade ago, unemployment was high; the Royal Navy offered a career, a chance to see the world and training to set you up in a second career. Today there is full employment, cheap flights and lots of choice. The issues facing the Ministry of Defence revolved around retention and motivation.'

Staff morale was not helped by a decision to allow ship crews access to e-mail and mobile phones. Problems at home began to worry some sailors, and requests for extraordinary leave increased.

Navy News, a monthly newspaper, is now backed by a quarterly video newsletter called Two-Six, which is the call sign for pulling together. 'There have been seven episodes to date and we do not duck any difficult issues,' says Watson. 'The language is tabloidish and accessible. We can do things that just wouldn't be possible in print.'

An editorial board decides on the content of Two-Six, and a recent edition covered the decision to charge on-shore staff for catering, a review of the locations of all Navy vessels and an on-board report on their activities from the crew of one ship. The videos are also posted on the Royal Navy intranet, keeping families up to date with the news.

Will Warrender, commanding officer of HMS Argyll, describes Two-Six as 'probably the best Royal Navy-produced internal communication we have ever seen. It has covered the issues that are of concern, and with a remarkable degree of frankness as well.'

It is important that video newsletters be presented either by external people or by staff, so no admirals have ever featured on Two- Six. Stevenson adds: 'The audience feels empowered if it is 'people like me' presenting the show.'

Sounds reasonable

The Edge recently produced Sue's Shoes for Barclays to highlight the launch of 'Reasonable Adjustment', an internal scheme to provide support, funding and practical help to colleagues with disabilities seeking to remain in work or get back to work. The scheme was launched after feedback from disabled employees revealed they were not getting the support they needed.

Sue's Shoes follows the story of Sue, a banker in Barclays' agricultural division, who suffers a brain tumour. She tells, in her own words, the impact of the tumour on her personal and working life. 'There was a perception I was damaged,' Sue explains to the camera. 'In my last full year I was the top performer in my location, among the top ten in the region. I was a valid person.' The tumour affected Sue's sight, and the video explains how Barclays has provided magnified computer screens and a driver to assist her return to work. 'I might not have had a life. I might not have had a job. Now I have got both, and I love it,' concludes Sue.

Stevenson says: 'The video really described how Sue felt - that people spoke to her as though her brain wasn't working. What you are able to do with film is to take someone and put them in an unfamiliar situation and make them empathise and think about it. The viewer starts to see things differently.'

When Southern Railway suffered a barrage of complaints about customer service, it hired The Edge to produce a video to change its staff's mindset. With Aqualung's Brighter than Sunshine playing in the background, the video tells the story of a grumpy ticket office worker who receives poor service in a café.

'He has a real moment of epiphany,' says Stevenson. 'He sees the way he treats customers and at that point he changes the way he does things.' The video then shows the knock-on effect of good customer service on passengers and staff, in both their home and working lives.

The dramatic soundtrack heightens the impact, adds Stevenson. 'Music is fantastically important. It conveys something real and emotional,' he says. 'It makes a huge difference to the way the video is perceived.' Courting the audience Two years ago the Crown Prosecution Service and Criminal Justice Commission jointly commissioned Take 3 to produce a series of videos to communicate to staff, police and other stakeholder groups in an initiative called 'No Witness, No Justice'.

The initiative, which involves supporting, informing and protecting witnesses and victims of crime, was implemented after an increasing number of cases were thrown out of court because the witness or victim did not turn up to give evidence. In 2003, one in four cases was thrown out for this reason.

A drama reconstructing the elements of real cases was mixed with key interviews with expert witnesses, including the police, judiciary, attorney general and director of public prosecutions. 'The aim was to inform and demonstrate the importance of the project and how possible cases are likely to be handled by those involved in the process, while engaging and motivating the audience to support the initiative,' explains Schneider.

Tamara Moore, spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service, believes the video proved an effective way to communicate the message to 'an audience that can be quite cynical'.

A follow-on video, More Porridge, was produced this year ahead of a major conference. The video turned the message on its head and, in a parody of sitcom Porridge, showed the impact of the No Witness, No Justice initiative from the point of view of two hardened criminals.

Moore adds: 'More Porridge was a powerful, tongue-in-cheek way to demonstrate the impact of the No Witness, No Justice initiative. We showed it at four conferences; 90 percent of audiences loved it and 10 percent hated it. There was no middle ground. But whether staff love it or hate it, they are watching it and they understand its message'

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