A company day with a festival twist

Challenge

Global life sciences company, Sanofi, needed to deliver a Company Day that would underline their drive to deliver the best support to their customers and push themselves to provide services that truly benefit and positively impact people’s lives.

The event – for 700 delegates – had to be different and more innovative than in previous years, embed the values of Teamwork, Courage, Respect and Integrity, and tell a consistent and compelling story about who they are as a business – ie one, integrated company with brilliantly diverse capabilities, medicines and offerings.

Solution

We understood how important it was to create an environment that would inspire employees to step outside their comfort zone, feel and act differently. We collaborated closely with Sanofi on how this might be achieved, holding a series of working events, and from this process conceptualized an event theme – a Sanofi Festival – SanofiFEST.

We coordinated the build of four festival tents, varying in size and scale, over a 7 day build period in the grounds of the geographically suitable Beaumont Estate in Old Windsor– a venue sourced within a short lead-time (due to a necessary change in date) by our in-house team.

The content and program design focused on business updates in the morning, with the afternoon dedicated to the immersive activities centered around the company’s core values. The opening session took place in a large tepee with all 700 delegates seated around a central stage to create a feeling of togetherness and encourage participation – like sitting around a big camp fire.

The afternoon’s immersive activities required the delegates to:

Activity 1
Walk barefoot across hot coals – showing strength of mind and the incredible feats that can be achieved by being brave enough to take first step with full support of your colleagues – courage

Activity 2
Try their hand at circus skills – working closely with colleagues to perfect human pyramids, tightrope walking and knife throwing – teamwork

Activity 3
Hunt around the grounds to find and erect camping tents and bedding – the accommodation for the night for any delegates who chose to – teamwork

Activity 4
Collate the travel-sized toiletries they’d been asked to bring into bags; creating 350 care packs for homeless people. These, plus camping materials, were donated – respect & integrity

Sanofi’s MD wrapped up a successful day back in the main tent and reiterated key messages, focusing on the importance of working towards the same values, before the festival-style lighting created a glow as the crowds were entertained by circus acts and live music. The bar and vast array of quality street food trucks were then declared open!

Result

Throughout the day, the Ashfield team were on hand to ensure the smooth-running of the entire event.

Unique branding and creative designs of the ambient materials highlighted the excitement, professionalism and investment in the day, while flawless production retained the festival atmosphere throughout.

This was a company day like no other. Delegates got to experience the values of the business, not just talk about them, enabling them to garner feelings and memories that would last as they wiped away the final smudge of the glitter face-paint.