The communication consultancy firm MARCO has been recognised at the European Excellence Awards with a Golden Award in its 2020 edition.
The recognition they have just won is due to its successful Post-COVID brand positioning campaign for retail giant C&A and makes MARCO, together with the renowned fashion company, the only communication consultancy firm in Spain to receive an international award at this level this year. With this award, MARCO reaffirms its commitment to its customers in the strategic area of reputation and brand rebuilding during confinement and in the post-pandemic phase.
This recognition is due to its successful Post-COVID brand positioning campaign for retail giant C&A and makes MARCO the only communication consultancy firm in Spain to receive an international award at this level this year. With this award, MARCO reaffirms its commitment to its clients in the strategic areas of reputation and brand rebuilding during confinement and in the post-pandemic world.
MARCO has been awarded for its campaign ‘C&A: Post-COVID Initiatives’, which was presented with C&A in the ‘Retail’ category.
C&A – Fashion in a Time of Pandemic – C&A: Post-COVID-19 initiatives
C&A, together with MARCO’s advice, drew up a strategy whose transversal objective was to maintain C&A’s visibility and positioning in such a complex moment as the confinement and in the subsequent stage, when the fashion firm assumed the challenge of starting its commercial reopening of physical shops. Generating public confidence and reinforcing the reputation of this fashion firm were key to this campaign.
MARCO and C&A’s work has focused on staying active at the communication level during the pandemic, bringing together the main Public Relations actions carried out for C&A during and after the confinement as a campaign as a whole. For the success of this campaign, two fundamental objectives of C&A were emphasised: framed within its CSR strategy, to help those who needed it most during and after the first wave of the pandemic; and to reinforce the reputation of the firm in its process of re-opening shops, as the brand prepared to adjust its commercial activities to the new normality and to guarantee the health and safety of their clients and teams.
The strategy was fundamentally aimed at ensuring visibility, credibility and notability in key national and regional media for the main actions carried out. The donation of masks to hospitals, the preparation of their shops and their reopening with the new safety measures, and the recognition of the effort of all Spaniards through the “We are all heroes” campaign were some of the milestones with the greatest media impact.
In this way, MARCO managed to successfully communicate the key messages and values of C&A, obtaining more than 180 pieces of high quality coverage, positioning C&A as the firm with the most visibility over its competitors, with an audience of more than 305 million and an AVE of 1.3 million euros.
Paula Ahicart, Head of Public Relations and Corporate Communication for C&A in Spain and Portugal said: “Helping and being close to our clients is part of C&A’s DNA. We have experienced an unprecedented situation and have acted according to our values. During the first wave of infections, we provided 41,000 masks to the University Hospital of La Paz to support the health professionals who were in the front line of treating the patients. Later, we launched the ‘Heroes’ campaign to thank all the anonymous people, neighbourhood associations, groups… for their help during those difficult months and thus celebrate their small gestures, which were transcendental and filled us with optimism as a society.””.
Domingos Esteves, General Manager of C&A in Spain and Portugal, said: “C&A is proud to have received this European recognition. We have developed a solid strategy of Corporate Social Responsibility and being the only Spanish campaign to receive this award is the best result for having been able to share all the anonymous heroes’ stories and make them visible with this campaign.”
The European Excellence Awards are considered one of the most prestigious international awards, which annually recognise the most exceptional campaigns and projects with the greatest impact in the field of Public Relations and Communication at a European level.
Didier Lagae, MARCO’s CEO and founder, said: “We are proud that a brand such as C&A trusts our proposal as leaders in the management of communication and reputation in such crucial and constantly changing times as the pandemic. Brands must be liquid and resilient and understand the new values that consumers demand. With the effort made by our consultants, we have been able to transmit these essential brand values in terms of their commitment to society and achieve outstanding results that have led us to obtain this prestigious international recognition.”
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