Swagelok

What they asked us to do ...

Swagelok designs, manufactures and delivers a range of high quality fluid system products and solutions. The company wanted us to help position them as a leader in fluid systems components for the alternative fuels industry. Employee communications were also important as Swagelok really wanted to engage their employee population and create a more “open and integrated” corporate culture. They also wanted to do something that would appeal to and engage the company’s distributors around the world.

What we did ...

We recommended sponsorship of the EcoFuel World and Asia Tours which involved a German adventurer and his team driving an EcoFuel VW Caddy approximately 45,000 km around the world powered only by natural gas found on route. Our goal was to leverage the visibility of the Tour to Swagelok’s employees and distributors and to external audiences.

Cohn & Wolfe helped coordinate the overall global project. We developed global media templates and executed multi-lingual media relations in the EMEA region. We developed a launch press release, key messages, Q & A and issues documents, as well as copy for Swagelok’s internal newsletter and Web site. We adapted materials to be relevant to each Tour stop (language and content). We also organized media attendance and interviews at each location in EMEA, and promoted the presence of the vehicle at two Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) exhibitions along the way.
 

Our results ...

The 45,000 km, five-continent tour set a Guinness World Record for the longest journey ever completed by natural gas-powered vehicle. Hundreds of customers and employees attended Swagelok’s 18 EcoFuel distributor events around the globe. The events developed such momentum that in some countries they secured a place on the political agenda with government officials attending and contributing testimonials on the benefits of alternative fuels for use in media materials. The Tour generated media coverage across the globe reaching an audience of approximately four million in five continents. Nearly 70 media outlets (print, TV, online) attended Swagelok events and all the stories published carried Swagelok’s key messages. Thanks in part to their participation in the EcoTour, Swagelok has become a prominent supplier to the alternative fuels industry.