Tamim Daoud | brand communications & analytics

• Background: RAKBANK had been developing its corporate communications team for most of the past decade, as part of its product-centered approach for personal & SME banking.

• Challenge: With solid media relations as well as voluminous PR & marketing requirements that cemented RAKBANK's product communications, the Bank realized the time had come to reinforce its large team with more brand-focused thinking.

• Solution: RAKBANK's executive management needed to communicate the employee brand more effectively to all stakeholders, including the 5,000+ employees that stood behind its success as a corporation and consumer brand. The responsibility entailed developing and maintaining the external and internal brand in order to promote a corporate culture that is synonymous with RAKBANK's strategic objectives and evolution as a corporation.

• Responsibility: Externally, PR activities were required in order to cater to the expanding brand requirements (launches, partnerships, promotions, and CSR). In addition, the fact that the internal communications role was unprecedented mandated a series of tasks that became integral to discovering and understanding the scope of work ahead. From auditing the brand and analyzing its components, I uncovered the responsibilities that lay ahead. I met all the major stakeholders and put together a comprehensive plan to strengthen the brand from the inside out.

• Approach: Though my relationship with RAKBANK began 2 years before I was recruited, with my overseeing of the 2014 annual report development, I was faced with a plethora of responsibilities once I became a full-time employee, which began with familiarizing the Bank with my nascent role and identifying the most suitable communication channels. Restricting and streamlining existing intranet channels as well as creating new platforms and utilizing email efficiently came next. Most important of all, I constantly created a content mix that is consistent visually and unified in its tonality.

• Result: External communications became more streamlined and effective. Similarly, internal communications evolved from merely random announcements into centralized and engaging employee communication (in English & Arabic) that tells relevant stories through blog posts and emails enriched with videos, infographics, and other visuals. HR reward schemes, initiatives, and development drives became branded campaigns and banking products, likewise, were marketed internally. Newsletters took shape and started to be published regularly within various departments. In addition to the digital medium, work environments were enhanced with graphics that reflect our transforming internal culture.

• Impact: The in-depth understanding of employee behavior & sentiment led to more a effective communication support for all bank functions across the UAE, an internal brand guidelines & visual language, lasting partnerships with strategy leaders of /operations/strategy teams to communicate local business performance & transformation goals along with reward initiatives & change management (outsourcing/offshoring, down-sizing, etc.). This also helped ease the difficulty of communication to RAKBANKERS & RAKBANK clients throughout the current crisis.

annual report - design management