The Creative Engagement Group

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by The Creative Engagement Group's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from The Creative Engagement Group is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

www.tceg.com

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

32 | THE CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT GROUP

Russ Lidstone, CEO

World-first, kinetic sculpture

attractor at a medical congress

The Creative Engagement Group is a communications group

focused on engaging audiences through the creation and

delivery of live experiences, films, digital and immersive

experiences (virtual reality and augmented reality), employee

engagement, learning, healthcare communications and training.

They provide international clients with the ability to generate

deeper levels of engagement with their audiences and challenge

the “broadcast” advertising model with a range of immersive

and experiential capabilities unparalleled in any other company.

They are a growing communications group providing a unique

range of strategic, creative and production services to blue chip

clients delivering programmes of communications activity for

B2B and B2C campaigns. CEO Russ Lidstone expandshere.

We provide live events for healthcare companies to banks; employee and brand

engagement for Nissan; we’ve created digital and immersive solutions for Global

Radio to Carnival. We’ve produced retail environments for Google and events as

well as film and training capabilities for a range of clients who include seven of the

world’s top ten healthcare companies.

Previously backed by private equity, I worked with David Sharrock, our COO, to

help create, structure and position the companies of TCEG, and exit from private

equity in the strategic trade sale to Huntsworth plc in July 2017. Huntsworth, the

international healthcare and public relations communications group, added Axiom to

TCEG in October 2017, strengthening TCEG’s presence in theUS.

FACTS ABOUT

THE CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT

GROUP

»CEO: Russ Lidstone

»COO: David Sharrock

»Established in 2016, but its

respective companies WRG,

TheMoment, Just Communicate

and Axiom have a combined

heritage of over 50 years

»No. of employees: More than 300

across the UK

»TCEG delivers over 3,500

creative projects a year including

4,500 hours of film, 500,000

lines of code and 100,000

delegates engaged

»70 per cent of TCEG income is

for international programmes

of activity and 60 per cent is in

employee engagement

»TCEG has a particular strength

in understanding complex and

highly regulated markets such

as healthcare

»www.tceg.com

The Creative

Engagement Group

33THE CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT GROUP |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2018

» IMMERSIVE

DIGITAL CONTENT

What is immersive digital

content?

Virtual reality (VR) and

augmented reality (AR),

interactive film and

gaming technologies are

used to place someone at

the heart of the action,

or give them control

of the narrative. VR

uses technology to fully

immerse the participant

in a digital world,

while AR superimposes

digital content into the

participant’s real world

using a handset.

Four agencies with distinct

and complementary skill sets

The Creative Engagement Group is one

company made up of four agencies

that work in an integrated and

seamless way:

WRG: our pre-eminent and experiential

agency engages audiences through

the creation and delivery of live

experiences, exhibitions and healthcare

communications.

The Moment: our film and digital

business that engages audiences

through the creation and delivery

of video, interactive and immersive

content, learning and training.

Axiom: our life sciences and training

solutions agency that changes

behaviours and improves performance

through live and digital learning

experiences.

Just Communicate: our leading

healthcare event company that

creates and delivers engaging live

pharmaceutical events and exhibitions,

including interactive, design and

videocontent.

Built for the era of reinvention

Our companies were created

independently and specifically brought

together as a group in recognition of a

client communications need: in an era

of reinvention, it is harder than ever

to engage with customers, employees

and delegates using traditional means.

We believe that broadcast “story

telling” has been replaced by “story

doing” – the creation of content

that is centred around action or

experience – and our proposition is

proving to be deeply compelling and

relevant to blue chip clients in multiple

industries including technology, media,

professional services, automotive, travel

and tourism, with a particular strength

in healthcare.

Recognising the changing landscape

of communication away from the

“broadcast” model and the increasing

importance of the “experience

economy”, we engage internal and

external audiences for our clients through

integrated activity, which includes:

»Live events and experiences

»Hybrid and virtual broadcasts

»Film

»Digital and immersive (VR and AR)

»Training and scientific content

»Learning programmes

»Employee engagement programmes

»Strategic healthcare communications

Utilising talent across the UK

While over 70 per cent of our income

comes from international work, we are a

proudly British company that is growing

its presence in the United States.

TCEG now employs nearly 350 people

across our offices, with 90 people based

in London, 110 in Manchester, 80

in Plymouth, 10 in Buckingham and

another 50 in Philadelphia/Yardley in the

United States.

The communications

challenges we address

The key challenge for businesses

is engagement. Brands and global

organisations face a myriad of

Award-winning film

content for DFS’

sponsorship of Team GB

at the 2016 Rio Olympics

We believe

that broadcast

‘story telling’

has been

replaced by

‘story doing’

“

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

34 | THE CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT GROUP

challenges engaging internal and

external audiences:

»Tech-savvy, content-hungry, but

time-poor and sceptical audiences

»Remote working

»Disparate groups with different

learning and training needs

»The need to be nimble, turning

creative ideas into reality quickly to

stand out in the market

»The art of combining physical

experience with digital and immersive

»Navigating the multitude of tools,

platforms and data available for a

concise and clear approach

»Communications budgets reducing

»The “broadcast” model being

questioned

We have evolved our company to

meet those communication challenges,

seeking to engage our clients’ internal

and external stakeholders – be they

consumers, employees, learners,

healthcare professionals or attendees

at an event.

Operating in growth areas

We have seen significant growth

over recent years across all aspects of

our business, while more traditional

communications channels are in

decline. The level of trust that we have

engendered through our creativity

and delivery for our clients is key to

this, but we have also evolved our

business in areas that are undergoing

sustainedgrowth:

»82 per cent of the world’s online

traffic will be video by 2021, and

content marketing is set to grow at

14.4 per cent from 2017 to 2021,

so our film production services are in

high demand

»Live events and experiences as a

category have seen 15 quarters of

increased marketing confidence

and spend in the UK, while other

channels have seen a decline in

confidence

»The number of regular at-home

workers among the non-self-

employed population has grown by

115 per cent since 2005, so the need

to engage employees through our

internal communications capability

continues to grow

»The global VR and AR markets are

expected to reach $75 billion and

$134 billion respectively by 2021,

so projects such as our virtual reality

training programmes for Global

Radio become more central to

clientactivity

A unique culture and DNA

Our company was built from a unique

DNA. Everything we do is driven by

the end-user experience and our ability

to deliver integrated programmes

ofactivity.

Alongside our distinct combination of

services, our real point of difference

is that we are a culture of thinkers,

creators and “makers” – our company

has origins in production, creativity

and “user centricity”. We also pride

ourselves on being a great place to

work, where we cultivate personal

growth, success and enjoyment.

We are a

culture of

thinkers,

creators and

‘makers’

“

Global Radio VR,

an award-winning

immersive training

solution

www.tceg.com

This article was sponsored by The Creative Engagement Group. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng.

Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng

This year’s Parliamentary Review reflects on a tumultuous and extraordinary year, globally and nationally. As well as being an MP, I am a keen student of history, and I am conscious that 2020 would mark the end of an era. It will be remembered as the year in which we concluded Brexit negotiations and finally left the European Union. Above all, it will be remembered as the year of Covid-19.

In our fight against the pandemic, I am delighted that our vaccination programme is beginning to turn the tide – and I pay tribute to the British businesses, scientists and all those who have helped us to achieve this. But the virus has dealt enormous damage, and we now have a duty to rebuild our economy.

We must ensure that businesses are protected. We have made more than £350 billion available to that end, with grants, business rates relief and our furlough scheme supporting more than 11 million people and jobs in every corner of the country, maintaining livelihoods while easing the pressure on employers. The next step is to work with business to build back better and greener, putting the net zero carbon challenge at the heart of our recovery. This is a complex undertaking, but one which I hope will be recognised as a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Through the prime minister’s ten point plan for a green industrial revolution, we can level up every region of the UK, supporting 250,000 green jobs while we accelerate our progress towards net zero carbon emissions.

With our commitment to raise R&D spending to 2.4% of GDP and the creation of the Advanced Research & Invention Agency, we are empowering our fantastic researchers to take on groundbreaking research, delivering funding with flexibility and speed. With this approach, innovators will be able to work with our traditional industrial heartlands to explore new technologies, and design and manufacture the products on which the future will be built – ready for export around the globe.

And I believe trade will flourish. We are a leading nation in the fight against climate change. As the host of COP26 this year, we have an incredible opportunity to market our low-carbon products and expertise. Our departure from the EU gives us the chance to be a champion of truly global free trade; we have already signed trade deals with more than 60 countries around the world.

As we turn the page and leave 2020 behind, I am excited about the new chapter which Britain is now writing for itself, and for the opportunities which lie ahead of us.

Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy