Tag Archives: media

University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)

The Challenge: The CISL is an impact-led institute within the University of Cambridge that activates leadership globally to transform economies for people, nature and climate. They approached Marchmont for support with ensuring their groundbreaking report that outlined a practical pathway to building effective insurance schemes for those vulnerable to climate risk had a tangible policy impact – specifically at the Third Financing for Development Conference (FFD3) in Addis Ababa in July 2015.

Our Approach: To achieve this, Marchmont:

  • Supported CISL in writing a policy brief that summarised the report’s key findings, which we recommended releasing at the International Insurance Summit in New York, which industry leaders and key UN decision makers would attend.
  • Released the policy brief to journalists under an embargo that lifted during the report author’s presentation at the IIS.

Outcomes:

  • Media coverage that hit during the week of the policy brief launch was read and commented on by influential leaders in the insurance industry, and an in-depth BBC article was read and praised by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.
  • Following media attention, Dr Ana Gonzalez Pelaez, co-author of report, was invited onto a high level panel at the FFD3 conference, to present her findings and recommendations.
  • The full report went live in conjunction with her panel session and to date the report has been covered by The Guardian, Reuters, Inter Press Service, SciDev and Devex, in addition to the BBC.

CGIAR

The Challenge: CGIAR is the largest publicly funded agricultural research network in the world, and Marchmont has conducted media outreach on their behalf since 2013, through press offices, media retainers, opinion articles and targeted media campaigns.

Our Approach: To advance this work, Marchmont:

  • Led media planning and outreach, aligning CGIAR’s work to the external news agenda – from climate change and migration to Covid-19.
  • Accurately and sensitively translated relevant scientific topics into more media-facing pitches and commentary.
  • Supported CGIAR around key events including Climate Week, the UN climate talks and the World Food Prize, as well as key launches of CGIAR initiatives such as their Crops to End Hunger initiative and their Covid-19 Hub.

Outcomes:

The Malabo Montpellier Panel

The Challenge: The Malabo Montpellier Panel seeks to influence European and African donors on effective ways to support poverty reduction through investment in sustainable African agriculture. Its bi-annual reports provide evidence and analysis of key topics such as soil management, climate change, energy, innovation and livestock. Their aim is to reach senior policy makers and key stakeholders, beyond just the scientific community, and demonstrate how and why they may provide agricultural support.

Our Approach: To elevate the Malabo Montpellier Panel’s visibility and influence, Marchmont:

  • Leads media planning and outreach and prepares a detailed outreach plan, including media materials, story angles, case studies and external news hooks. 
  • Conducts embargoed media outreach ahead of each launch date and positions panel members via opinion editorials.

Outcomes:

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

The Challenge: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) aims to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. They approached Marchmont for support with translating and disseminating world-class policy research to more general audiences in order to drive action.

Our Approach: To achieve this, Marchmont:

  • Led media planning and pitching efforts for IFPRI’s “Food Security in a World of Natural Resource Scarcity” report and ran their press office at the 2014 “Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security” conference in Ethiopia.
  • Curated digital assets such as an animated video and infographic to help launch the “Food Security in a World of Natural Resource Scarcity” report.
  • Facilitated various workshops for IFPRI including a “Communications 101” workshop and a “Writing for the web” workshop for their in-house communications team in Washington DC.

Outcomes:

  • Secured a number of top-tier media placements including the Wall Street JournalThe Telegraph, the Financial Times, SciDev.Net,  and Reuters AlertNet.
  • Received positive feedback from workshop participants in the in-house communications team in Washington DC.

Future Earth

The Challenge: Future Earth is a global network of scientists, researchers, and innovators collaborating for a more sustainable planet. They approached Marchmont for help with launching a series of research reports including the “Global Carbon Budget” report and their “Strategic Research Agenda”, which outlined the need for a step-change in global research for sustainable development.

Our Approach: To achieve these objectives, Marchmont:

  • Led media planning and pitching efforts connecting key items from the ‘Strategic Research Agenda’ to existing news events, such as the Ebola crisis and the UN climate talks.
  • Translated complex scientific language from the ‘Global Carbon Budget’ report into easily-understandable but accurate media-facing messages.

Outcomes: The report received coverage from a range of top-tier media including the Guardian, BBC, Reuters, Huffington Post, Business Fights Poverty and Devex.