Creating more respectful and inclusive conversations across a global workforce
Brambles | Inclusion campaign
Context
Brambles recognised the value of its diverse workforce, but they also saw that people needed to work better across their differences in everyday interactions to be able to fully contribute to the business and help drive long-term success.
Approach
We centred the campaign on a simple question: what does it mean to be a “friend of” someone at work? Using real, everyday situations, we made it practical and relatable – giving people the confidence to start conversations, support each other and work better together.
Outcome
The campaign created dialogue and continues to support many communities across Brambles. It was successfully adapted across markets and cultures, driving greater understanding and respectful conversations across the organisation.
As a global logistics business operating across 60 countries, Brambles already valued the diversity of its people. But they recognised an opportunity to help employees understand the value in those differences and feel more comfortable starting conversations and asking questions in the right way.
Employees needed to feel more confident asking questions, starting conversations and supporting one another in ways that felt natural and appropriate in their day-to-day work.
Developing an inclusion campaign to drive employee behaviour change
At the heart of the campaign was a simple but powerful idea: “Friends of”.
Inspired by how people naturally connect and interact on social media, the concept created a flexible and recognisable identity that could support a wide range of topics, conversations and learning moments. It reframed allyship as something familiar and part of everyday behaviour, rather than something formal or abstract.
We then used this identity to bring real situations to life. Familiar text-style speech bubbles showed how conversations might play out in real-life, across topics such as disability, gender and neurodiversity. The language stayed natural and true to how people actually speak, helping show how small, everyday interactions can make a difference.
Rather than relying on one-way messaging, the campaign encouraged people to take part – giving them the confidence to start or join conversations they might otherwise avoid.
Making inclusion accessible at global scale
Creating a campaign for a global audience meant ensuring is was culturally flexible. For example, in some regions, conversations around identity, particularly topics like LGBTQ+ inclusion, are more sensitive.
To ensure that the campaign had the flexibility to work across all regions, we conducted comprehensive discovery to understand the cultural nuances at Brambles, key differences to be aware of and get on-the-ground insight to ensure that the campaign would be usable in all markets.
We developed the campaign to focus on everyday behaviours and human connection, allowing the message to remain relevant, respectful and accessible across all regions. Delivered in 21 languages, “Friends of” created a shared global idea while allowing space for local interpretation and relevance.
The rollout combined targeted pre-launch communications for People Managers, a global launch with physical and digital assets and ongoing communications to maintain momentum.
How we made a meaningful difference
The ‘Friends of’ campaign built employees’ confidence to start conversations and helped make inclusive behaviours feel like something they could do day-to-day. Just as importantly, it showed that a complex and sensitive topic can be approached in a way that works across a global organisation – without losing meaning or relevance at a local level.
Big Insight
Allyship isn’t always easy to communicate across a global workforce. People are at different stages in their awareness, and levels of understanding can vary widely. That makes it even more important to keep communications clear and accessible, so everyone understands what they can do differently.
One of our team today shared that they are gay, and only just recently felt comfortable enough to share this with their manager and HR – they’ve worked here for three years! They booked a meeting with their Regional DEI Lead to share this as they felt it was important and they hope to help other people in the logistics space. They said that because of our DEI program and the fact that we were starting to talk more openly about different communities gave them the confidence that they needed to feel that they would be supported.
— Global Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Programme Lead, Brambles
What we delivered
- Global internal communications campaign strategy and positioning
- “Friends Of” creative concept development and asset design
- Campaign narrative and messaging
- Global campaign rollout and multilingual adaptation across 21 languages
- Manager communications and engagement materials
Award recognition
The Friends of campaign was recognised across leading internal communication and creative awards for its approach to DEI. It received Gold at the MUSE Creative Awards in the Branded Content – Diversity / Equity / Inclusion category, an Award of Excellence for Best EDI Campaign at the Institute of Internal Communications Awards and was shortlisted for Excellence in DE&I at The Simplys.
