Colt began by interviewing its Executive Team to collect ingredients for its Story, which captured the
vision and values of the company and began to define the journey that Colt needed to take. With executive buy-in, a common language was created and the Story was shared with other leaders in the business. Ambassadors were chosen and through a carefully managed process, the Story was released into the organisation across Europe and India.
Engagement sessions ensured understanding; interactive tools facilitated participation; the new brand launch – smarter/faster/further – provided evidence of commitment to both internal and external stakeholders.
The results of the campaign are phenomenal. Every single employee has heard Colt’s Story and reacted to it. Levels of communication, understanding and engagement have rocketed; leaders and staff are aligned.
Colt has become a service-oriented company operating at higher margins than before; a living example of what can be achieved by individuals motivated, empowered and united behind a compelling story.
Colt began in 1992 with funding from Fidelity Investments to build a 15km fibre optic network in London. This has now expanded to a 25,000km network covering 34 major European cities and 13 countries.
Objectives of the campaign
Colt did not underestimate the cultural challenge presented in moving from being product-led
to being service-led. Employee behavioural change is a critical success factor and this is where the campaign focused; helping employees understand the reasons behind Colt’s evolution and their roles
within it. A new brand identity, smarter/faster/further, needed to be embedded through internal
actions and behaviours before launching externally.
Success is a motivated workforce feeling excited, knowledgeable and empowered to deliver service
solutions to customers. Specifically, five clear campaign objectives:
1. Increase understanding of strategy and need for change
2. Improve overall employee engagement
3. Improve manager communication and create a culture of dialogue
4. Align senior leaders: one story, one voice
5. Live and breathe the values (behavioural change)
The target audience
The campaign targeted all 4500 employees. There was an unspoken focus on the “old guard”, long-term employees proud of the company’s heritage. The challenge here was to retain their passion and loyalty but also to reinvigorate them with a sense of excitement about the future.
In a word: storytelling.
Colt created a storytelling campaign to embed strategic change in the hearts and minds of employees, with the support of strategic engagement consultancy The Storytellers.
The campaign started with interviews with the senior leaders to scope out the Story of the journey that Colt needed to take, before aligning the team behind it, so that it spoke in a clear and consistent way.
The Story was sense-checked with a team of Ambassadors recruited from within the business – key influencers across all levels and functions – before the StoryMap’ was brought to life with a powerful visual identity, proof points and personal stories.

An interactive launch event, with an enlarged StoryMap forming the backdrop (no PowerPoint!), gave the top 150 leaders the chance to hear and interrogate the Story. Leaders were trained with tools to engage their teams in the Story.
Each country manager hosted a Story Presentation supported by a member of the Executive Team and Ambassadors, and using a series of interactive exercises. Every single member of Colt staff heard the story and was engaged in a “connection conversation” so they understood, subscribed to and were inspired by it. Critically, a series of 21 proof points- tangible, measurable actions and initiatives aligned to the strategy and incorporated into the teams’ daily working lives – sat at the core of these conversations; evidence of change actually happening. Without this evidence the CEO would not release the new brand externally.
Timescales of the campaign
Jul 2009 Initial research; Executive Team interviews; visual identity
Aug 2009 Story development and Executive Team alignment. Ambassador group formed
Sep 2009 2-day senior leaders’ conference to launch the Story. Country presentations
Oct 2009 Team-level connection conversations. StoryWall development and training
Dec 2009 “Values workshop” run across all teams
Jan – Jun 2010 Internal values campaign focusing on one value per month
Results
All 4500 employees heard the Story and actively engaged with it through the storytelling methodology that Colt developed.
- 98 per cent of leaders have a better understanding of where Colt is heading
- 100 per cent of leaders feel more confident about the future of Colt
- Understanding of strategy and change increased 20 per cent
- Commitment to the journey and future of Colt increased 12 per cent
- Overall engagement increased 12 per cent
- 100 per cent of leaders are committed to sharing the Story with their teams
- 99 per cent feel confident in their ability to communicate the Story using tools provided
- General communication increased 9 per cent
- 92 per cent of leaders feel better-connected¹
Confidence in leadership increased 29 per cent - 97 per cent of leaders feel that there is a greater level of openness, honesty and participation¹
- Communication has improved, especially from senior management, which now feels – and is seen to be – closer to employees and more open to ideas and feedback. As a result,
silos are being broken down and there is better cross-divisional teamwork. - Communication between India and Europe has improved
Processes have been simplified, new tools introduced and Colt has become much more customer-centric. The campaign has concluded, but the effects live on. Colt is conscious of the need to continue to live its values forever.
“I’ve never seen the organisation so energised. To see change happening in such a short space of time – and in such a consistent, aligned way across the whole organisation – is a remarkable achievement. Our Story has become a guiding light for everyone. I couldn’t be more delightedm with how people have responded to this call to action,” Rakesh Bhasin (CEO)