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, MP

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles, MP

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

The Parliamentary Review Publication, in which this article originally appeared, contained the following foreword from the prime minister.

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By The Rt Hon Theresa May MP

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review. For Her Majesty’s Government, our task in the year ahead is clear: to achieve the best Brexit deal for Britain and to carry on our work to build a more prosperous and united country – one that truly works for everyone.

The right Brexit deal will not be sufficient on its own to secure a more prosperous future for Britain. We also need to ensure that our economy is ready for what tomorrow will bring. Our Modern Industrial Strategy is our plan to do that. It means Government stepping up to secure the foundations of our productivity: providing an education system that delivers the skills our economy needs, improving school standards and transforming technical education; delivering infrastructure for growth; ensuring people have the homes they need in the places they want to live. It is all about taking action for the long-term that will pay dividends in the future.

But it also goes beyond that. Government, the private sector and academia working together as strategic partners achieve far more than we could separately. That is why we have set an ambitious goal of lifting UK public and private research and development investment to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. It is why we are developing four Grand Challenges, the big drivers of social and economic change in the world today: harnessing artificial intelligence and the data revolution; leading in changes to the future of mobility; meeting the challenges of our ageing society; and driving ahead the revolution in clean growth. By focusing our efforts on making the most of these areas of enormous potential, we can develop new exports, grow new industries and create more good jobs in every part of our country.

Years of hard work and sacrifice from the British people have got our deficit down by over three quarters. We are building on this success by taking a balanced approach to public spending. We are continuing to deal with our debts, so that our economy can remain strong and we can protect people’s jobs, and at the same time we are investing in vital public services, like our NHS. We have set out plans to increase NHS funding annually by an average by 3.4 percent in real terms: that is £394 million a week more. In return, the NHS will produce a ten-year plan, led by doctors and nurses, to eliminate waste and improve patient care.

I believe that Britain can look to the future with confidence. We are leaving the EU and setting a new course for prosperity as a global trading nation. We have a Modern Industrial Strategy that is strengthening the foundations of our economy and helping us to seize the opportunities of the future. We are investing in the public services we all rely on and helping them to grow and improve. Building on our country’s great strengths – our world-class universities and researchers, our excellent services sector, our cutting edge manufacturers, our vibrant creative industries, our dedicated public servants – we can look towards a new decade that is ripe with possibility. The government I lead is doing all it can to make that brighter future a reality for everyone in our country.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
Prime Minister