Creating a Movement

A leading health care organization, delivering care to more than 8 million members, came to Ferrazzi Greenlight for help in enhancing its brand strategy. The company needed a unique venue for business development opportunities.

The problem was this: How to create an arena in which the company could present customers with compelling practices and research, while also demonstrating relationship accountability and transparency? Their team needed strategies to move from the traditional monologues of conferences and tradeshows to a deliberate dialogue with customers. As well, they needed opportunities to highlight the people behind their products, services and company, to create intimacy, personal commitment, and strong business partnerships.

Ferrazzi Greenlight recommended an integrated strategy to reposition the company as an industry-wide thought leader. Together we developed an annual conference now known as Big Task Weekend. The company's founding role and sponsorship positioned them as the lead in a campaign to help Americans become healthier, for an audience of more than 50 Fortune 500 executives who would attend the weekend.

Our team conducted comprehensive interviews to identify co-sponsors and attendees with shared objectives and strong partnership potential. Based on feedback, we set an agenda focused on employer health and consumer products messaging, supported by a rigorous program of health and wellness research.

Big Task Weekend created nearly a dozen corporate partnership opportunities, as well as a venue to deepen and develop new relationships with target customers. The company opted to sponsor the Weekend for a second year, and further strengthened its new thought-leadership position with two subsequent research initiatives: an Employer Health Summit focused on the health and wellness practices of major corporations, and a health and productivity measurement initiative involving all participating Big Task companies.

Event sponsorship and research positioned this company as an expert to a growing Big Task executive community that now represents more than 2 million employees.