Forum Invest Case Study
Challenge:
Forum Invest is Romania’s premier marketing agency, aligned to the Romanian government, who organise economic conferences throughout Europe aimed at increasing inward investment.
Romania is the second largest consumer market in Central and Eastern Europe and is the UK's fifth largest export market in the region. Though not yet a member of the EU, the country has a full accession programme and is expected to join in 2007.
Romania has a skilled workforce and established industrial base making it attractive to foreign investment. Strategically located in South East Europe and with a population of 22.5m, its GDP is $15.4m (US) with a growth rate of 4.5 per cent.
K+R was selected to be Forum Invest’s UK partners in the promotion of their Third London Conference at the Hilton in September 2004, attended by Ion Iliescu, President of Romania, and aimed at promoting investment in Romania. Our task was:
- To attract speakers and over 100 paying delegates to Forum Invest’s third UK Romania Economic Summit: companies who currently do business in Romania, or who are seeking to do business in Romania
- To publicise the summit to UK media
Strategy:
- Identify and build relationships with business organisations who either have existing Romanian affiliations or have shown signs of interest
- Provide an 'added attraction' at the conference
Tactics:
- Established channels of communication with UK business organisations which have affiliations with Romania, such as the Anglo Romanian Society
- Liaised with the Romanian Embassy in London to source names, and drafted letters from the Ambassador
- Developed links with UK business organisations whose members may have an interest in Romania eg Institute of Directors, CBI – and developed mailing routes through their London branches
- Identified, approached and secured key note speakers who would be a ‘draw’ to delegates and to media: Patricia Hewitt MP, Lord Watson of Richmond, George Iacobescu (President, Canary Wharf) and Joan Hoey (UK Economic Unit)
- Developed a ‘standing start’ database of companies with offices in Romania by sector: banks, law and accountancy firms, construction, freight, highways, and undertook a telemarketing campaign to secure attendance
- Approached London School of Economics and invited their final year students to attend
- Kept media abreast of conference developments and organised a press conference with President of Romania on the afternoon of the event
Results:
Number of delegates totalled 300, making this the most successful of the London Conferences Forum Invest have subsequently undertaken their first Brussels conference, using K+R sister agency within the ECCO Group to publicise and market the event Forum Invest have also briefed fellow ECCO Group agencies in France and Athens for their 2005 conferences
