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The brief

The 37th EACTS Annual Meeting — held in Vienna — is the most important date in the cardiothoracic calendar, bringing together nearly 5,000 professionals from 103 countries. EACTS asked Barley to drive attendance, enhance engagement, and ensure delegates were informed and inspired throughout the event. The goal was to showcase the world-leading science and global collaboration shaping the future of cardiothoracic surgery.

Insights and approach

Barley worked closely with EACTS and its global community of cardiothoracic surgeons to deliver an integrated communications strategy that supported every stage of the event — before, during and after the meeting.

Our multi-channel approach combined content creation, on-site coordination, and digital storytelling to enhance engagement and amplify the event’s impact. Highlights included:

  • Producing three editions of Daily News, capturing standout moments from each day
  • Managing communications through the EACTS App to help delegates navigate the Austria Center Vienna
  • Promoting key research from EACTS journals linked to the event sessions
  • Driving live engagement through EACTS ambassadors across LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Facebook
  • Partnering with Distant Future to create a pre-event campaign video
  • Working with GoForth to produce post-event highlight films for YouTube
  • Running a targeted email marketing campaign celebrating the event’s world-class science

Results

Barley’s communications helped make the 37th EACTS Annual Meeting one of the most successful to date — reaching a global audience of clinicians, researchers and industry partners.

The #EACTS2023 campaign generated over 10,900 engagements, 2,650 social posts, and more than 15,000 video views. Across platforms, the event achieved 17,000+ social media engagements and 435,000 impressions, reinforcing EACTS’ position at the heart of global cardiothoracic innovation.

4,950

participants

17k+

social media engagements

435k

social media impressions

15k+

highlights video views

The brief

Each year, Barley supports the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) to promote its flagship Annual Meeting — one of the most significant gatherings in the cardiothoracic calendar.

EACTS tasked Barley with creating attractive branding – developing a fresh, distinctive brand identity for each year’s event — one that captures the character of the host city while maintaining strong visual continuity and recognition among its global professional audience.

Insights and approach

Our creative process begins with in-depth research into the cultural, historical and scientific character of each location — uncovering insights that shape the design, colour palette, typography and strapline.

For example, Vienna’s 2023 identity, “Raising the bar”, reflected the city’s musical heritage, weaving subtle treble and bass motifs into the event logo. In 2022, Milan’s “Learning together” branding drew inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, symbolising precision and shared learning. The previous year’s “Reconnecting” in Barcelona echoed the spirit of renewal after COVID-19, using Gaudí-inspired mosaic textures.Barley’s designs are applied across every touchpoint — from the EACTS website and social media to venue signage, flags, exhibition materials and delegate lanyards — creating a seamless experience that unites online and in-person engagement.

Results

Over three consecutive years, EACTS’ Annual Meeting branding has become instantly recognisable for its creativity and relevance to each city’s story. Each visual identity has strengthened audience recognition, enhanced event visibility, and reinforced EACTS’s reputation for excellence and innovation in global cardiac and thoracic surgery.The upcoming 2024 branding for Lisbon continues this legacy with the theme “Navigating new horizons”, symbolising progress and exploration in the field.

The brief

ICRA is the world’s largest gathering of robotics and automation experts. In 2023, the conference came to the UK for the first time, held at ExCeL London.Barley was appointed to promote a global conference of this scale by raising ICRA’s profile in the UK, driving registrations, and managing media accreditation. With conference media relations taking place amid a surge in negative AI headlines, we also set out to communicate innovation in a positive, human-centred way — reframing robotics and automation as technologies that can benefit society rather than fuel concern.

Insights and approach

We began with a strategic workshop to understand ICRA’s ambitions, audiences and concerns. From this we developed a set of clear, consistent messages used across all media engagement. These emphasised the real-world value of robotics across sectors and showcased the breadth of innovation from more than 100 exhibitors.

To ensure global visibility, we prioritised London-based international wires — including AP, Reuters, PA Media and Getty — alongside national, science and technology titles. We coordinated two targeted media tours, giving outlets such as AP, The Times, Metro and New Scientist direct access to key spokespeople.On-site at ExCeL London, we arranged interviews with BBC Click, BBC World Service and AP, and secured a dedicated ITV London package featuring ICRA’s schools outreach programme. This combination of proactive story development, structured access and responsive handling ensured strong media uptake in the UK and internationally.

Results

ICRA 2023 welcomed more than 6,000 delegates to London, supported by extensive global media coverage that aligned with the conference’s core messages.

Content from AP, PA Media, Reuters and Getty generated widespread international pick-up. AP’s feature on a poetry-writing humanoid robot alone was broadcast by more than 30 TV channels worldwide, with a social version reaching almost 26 million people. BBC Click produced an in-depth segment from the exhibition floor, while ITV London shone a spotlight on ICRA’s engagement with local schools.High-value print and online coverage included The Times, The Independent, The i, Daily Star, MSN, Yahoo News UK & Ireland, AOL, Daily Mail, Metro, London Evening Standard, Herald Scotland and New Scientist — which ran a first-person feature, complete with video, on controlling a robotic avatar.

  • 66

    journalists accredited

  • 224

    pieces of media coverage

  • 2.1bn+

    opportunities to see/hear

  • 33+

    national and international TV items

  • 100+

    global online articles

“

It was a great pleasure working with Barley Communications. They ensured to get an excellent, international media coverage for the flagship robotics conference, ICRA 2023, held in London. I highly recommend them to anyone organising a large-scale conference.

Kaspar Althoefer

Professor of Robotics Engineering, Head of Centre for Advanced Robotics at Queen Mary University of London; General Chair of ICRA 2023

The brief

Each year, the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) hosts the leading global event for the cardiothoracic community — the EACTS Annual Meeting.

Following a successful 2021 campaign, EACTS once again turned to Barley to promote its 2022 Annual Meeting, held in Milan. The goal: to attract world-class surgeons, allied health professionals and industry partners to share ideas, showcase innovation and shape the future of cardio-thoracic surgery.

Insights and approach

With many high-profile conferences competing for attention, Barley needed to ensure EACTS stood out. We focused on strategic, creative and content-led engagement to boost registrations and excitement ahead of the event.

We developed a suite of refreshed branded assets and a social media campaign combining organic and paid activity. A targeted email programme highlighted the scientific excellence of the agenda, while our team produced EACTS News and Daily News during the event to capture the best sessions and stories.

Working closely with Go Forth, we created a suite of dynamic videos for the EACTS website, app and social channels — bringing the energy of the Annual Meeting to life.

Results

Our integrated approach delivered significant reach and engagement across all channels. The campaign hashtag #EACTS2022 achieved more than 10.9 million impressions, contributing to a successful event that brought together nearly 5,000 delegates from 99 countries.Barley continues to work with EACTS to promote future meetings — including the 2023 event in Vienna.

“

With Barley’s fantastic support we were able to attract large numbers of delegates to the Aortic Forum in 2023. Barley led on messaging, social media, video and direct marketing, helping us deliver what has been described as a legendary event. Thank you to everyone at Barley.

Kirsty Clarke

Education programme manager , EACTS

The brief

WWT London engaged Barley in August 2022 to help deliver local media coverage as part of an overall communications strategy to help tackle low visitor numbers at the centre and integrate with wider campaigns.   

Insights and approach

We used World Mental Health Day as a hook to highlight the increasing body of evidence showing the benefits of spending time in nature on mental health. We positioned WWT London as an ideal location to experience blue and green space and created “Wellbeing Wednesdays” meaning half price entry to visitors every Wednesday throughout October.  

We engaged with local online and print media in key local boroughs that the client highlighted as priority areas and created a mailout for business partners, local authorities and key contacts.  

We used World Wetlands Day to raise awareness of the importance of wetlands in fighting climate change and its role in providing a place to rest and refuel for migratory birds. Pitching to local broadcast media, we offered filming opportunities and interviews with the staff which resulted in strong features on ITV London and London Live which landed all our key messages.   

The results

We secured coverage in a range of local print, online and broadcast media, including in-depth interviews with the General Manager and filming at the nature reserve with ITV London and London Live.   

WWT London reported an uplift in footfall as a result of our work. 

19

pieces of coverage

10m

opportunities to see/hear

“

It has been an absolute  delight working with Barley, sharing your enthusiasm and brilliant ideas. I truly wish we could have implemented it all. We have learned a lot from you about best practice and how to stand out from the crowd. Thank you so much for the great service.

Angelica Teixeira

Marketing and Comms Manager, WWT London Wetland Centre   

The brief

Physics is still widely perceived as difficult and dominated by white males – a view backed by data and lived experience. This lack of diversity means the physics community misses out on talented young people who do not see themselves reflected in the subject.
To shift perceptions and encourage more young people to continue with physics post-16, the Institute of Physics asked Barley to promote Limit Less – its diversity communication campaign championing girls, students from disadvantaged backgrounds, young people of Black Caribbean descent, disabled students and LGBT+ young people.

Insights and approach

We wanted to show that physics can be creative, collaborative, practical and fun.
We set out to reframe physics as creative, collaborative and relevant to everyday life. Early interviews with IOP members and students revealed that many young people felt more confident in subjects such as art, design, sport, humanities or languages. This insight shaped our central idea: meet young people where they already feel strong.
We proposed launching The Eurekas – a UK- and Ireland-wide competition for 11–16-year-olds answering one question: what’s the point of physics? To widen participation, entries could take any form, from videos and performances to poetry, artwork or baking. Cash and voucher prizes were included to motivate students, teachers and parents or carers.
To bring the campaign to life, we:
Created The Eurekas sub-brand and a dedicated website
Recruited science communicator Shivani Dave as an accessible and inspiring ambassador
Engaged amplifier audiences – teachers, parents and carers – to reach young people appropriately
Ran paid and organic social campaigns
Activated IOP’s database via newsletters
Delivered national and local media outreach
Convened a judging panel including Shivani Dave, physicist and author Femi Fadugba, and IOP Deputy Chief Executive Rachel Youngman

Results

Students across the UK and Ireland embraced the challenge, exploring physics in unexpected and imaginative ways. As a pilot year, The Eurekas exceeded expectations, attracting more than 100 submissions from almost 200 young people – with most shortlisted entrants coming from the underrepresented groups at the heart of the campaign.The entries demonstrated powerful creativity and a growing confidence in the subject. Several winners shared how taking part reshaped how they see physics and what they believe they can achieve. The competition has laid strong foundations for future engagement, giving young people new permission to see physics as something that belongs to them.

554k

teachers and parents reached

42

schools involved

189

students

107

submissions

“

We were all incredibly impressed by the quality of entries submitted for this first year of The Eurekas. It was amazing to see how the young people tapped into their passions and produced such thoughtful work. We wanted this competition to be a celebration of creativity, culture, collaboration, diversity and activity – all underpinned by physics themes – and it has certainly achieved this.

Rachel Youngman

Deputy Chief Executive, Institute of Physics

The brief

The European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) hosts the world’s largest gathering for the cardiothoracic community — bringing together thousands of surgeons, health professionals and industry experts to share knowledge, research and innovation.In 2021, EACTS planned to host its Annual Meeting in Barcelona and appointed Barley to drive attendance and engagement for the event.

Insights and approach

Although the Annual Meeting was already well established, competing events and the global challenges of 2021 meant EACTS needed to re-energise its communications.

Barley developed a clear, multi-channel strategy to promote the event and highlight the value of attending. Our approach included:

  • Designing distinctive branded assets to strengthen the event’s visual identity
  • Delivering a targeted social media campaign combining organic and paid content
  • Running a focused email marketing programme to reach members and prospects
  • Producing EACTS News in the run-up to the event and three editions of Daily News during the conference
  • Partnering with Go Forth to create compelling video content for online promotion

Targeting key regions with high potential attendance based on membership data

Results

Barley’s integrated approach delivered significant reach and engagement across digital platforms. More than 3,000 participants from 87 countries attended the 2021 Annual Meeting in Barcelona — a remarkable achievement in a challenging year for international events.Following this success, EACTS reappointed Barley to promote the 2022 Annual Meeting in Milan.

3,000

participants from 87 countries

2,500

social posts and 7000+ engagements with #EACTS2021

3

issues of Daily News

The brief

The British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) wanted to strengthen its position as the UK’s most trusted source of evidence-based nutrition advice.
With the public — and even professionals in the food industry — regularly exposed to mixed messages, the Foundation needed a refreshed brand to communicate clarity, authority and warmth.

Barley was commissioned to deliver a full rebrand for a charity, creating a modern, approachable identity that appealed to a wider audience while maintaining credibility among scientists, educators and policymakers.

Insights and approach

Our work began with a deep immersion into BNF’s landscape. We analysed competitors, interviewed key stakeholders and led an interactive brand workshop to capture insights from across the organisation.

Building on BNF’s existing vision, mission and values, we developed brand foundations, key messages, tone of voice and a compelling brand story. These strategic elements guided our design team to create three visual concepts rooted in meaning and purpose.

We ensured the new visual identity was flexible enough to resonate across very different audiences — from schools and families to industry and academia. Qualitative and quantitative testing helped refine the direction, ensuring the brand captured both authority and accessibility.

To complete the rebrand, Barley managed the design and production of all materials — from stationery and templates to social media assets — and created comprehensive brand and messaging guidelines to maintain consistency and confidence across all communications.

Results

The result is a transformed brand that reflects BNF’s mission and values and has the strength to last.
The refreshed logo and supporting elements now engage broader audiences and feel distinctly more consumer-friendly, without compromising scientific credibility.

BNF’s new proposition — connecting people, food and science for better nutrition and healthier lives — captures the heart of its work with renewed clarity and purpose.

This brand strategy has given the Foundation a strong platform for growth. Barley continues to support BNF with ongoing communications planning and social media strategy to ensure its voice remains the leading source for evidence-based nutrition education.

“

From the initial pitch to providing the final brand, we found Barley Communications professional and approachable, as well as having a clear understanding of our needs. They guided us through the journey, which was set out from the very start, providing insight into ‘who we are’ and ‘why and what we do’ being realised through new brand messaging and visual identity. We are delighted with the result – which is credible, approachable and purposeful – allowing us to further our vision and social purpose.

Roy Ballam

Managing Director and Head of Education, British Nutrition Foundation

The brief

Purple works to improve customer experiences for disabled people. In 2019, the organisation asked Barley to deliver a charity communications campaign for its global awareness day, Purple Tuesday. The aim was to highlight the everyday barriers facing disabled people, inspire businesses to commit to more inclusive practices, and build wider public support for disability inclusion.

Insights and approach

To position Purple Tuesday as a standout moment in the calendar, we developed an integrated programme spanning media relations, targeted social activity and strategic content creation.

We managed all Purple Tuesday social channels, using insight about where our audiences were most active to build momentum in the weeks before the day. This included a LinkedIn InMail campaign aimed directly at senior leaders and decision-makers.To make the movement tangible, we produced a range of accessible content: case studies illustrating real-world change, shareable infographics and video testimonials from influencers and business leaders. We supplied simple self-filming guidelines to encourage authentic contributions and amplified supporter content to show the scale of commitment already underway. Paid social activity was deployed at key moments to broaden reach and visibility.

Results

Purple Tuesday rapidly became a global conversation, trending third on Twitter in 2019 and inspiring more than 2,500 businesses and individuals to commit to improving their accessibility. The campaign helped strengthen Purple’s profile and demonstrated the real-world impact of coordinated, insight-led communication.
Despite significant external news pressures in 2020 — including the US presidential election and the announcement of a national lockdown — we secured more than 250 pieces of media coverage across major outlets, including BBC Online and Metro. This reinforced Purple Tuesday as a trusted, authoritative moment in the disability inclusion calendar.

8.4k

social media conversations using #PurpleTuesday

20k

engagements with campaign content

81k

video views

350+

pieces of media coverage

“

The combination of Barley’s knowledge of the media landscape and detailed understanding of our audiences and the sector we’re operating in makes them the ideal media partner for Purple Tuesday. More than this, their passion for the cause and tenacious dedication to delivering results is why we have continued to work with them since 2019. Barley’s team is professional, approachable, flexible and accommodating and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Barley to others.

Mike Adams OBE

CEO, Purple

The brief

Barley was appointed by the World Energy Council to provide website development support that would help increase global membership sign-ups. As a long-established membership organisation, the Council needed a modern, intuitive site that clearly communicated its purpose and encouraged energy leaders to join a worldwide community committed to a sustainable future for energy.

Insights and approach

With only six weeks to deliver a fully rebuilt site, we focused on a clear strategy and agile delivery to shape our website development support.

Our discovery phase brought together insight from across the organisation and its network. We conducted stakeholder interviews, ran an interactive workshop with the senior team, and issued a global online survey that drew 112 responses from members in multiple countries. We also carried out a detailed competitor review, benchmarking the Council’s online presence against five comparable organisations specialising in energy and sustainability.

These insights helped us define the website’s communications goals, from strengthening the brand and improving user experience to enhancing SEO performance and building clear, compelling calls to action.Guided by these principles, we developed the site architecture, including a new sitemap and wireframes, before writing all website copy and sourcing relevant media. We oversaw the full website design, build and migration, ensuring every element supported the Council’s ambition to communicate its mission and grow its membership.

Results

Within six days of launch, the World Energy Council received 58 new membership applications—many from their primary target audience. Early feedback highlighted the improved clarity of messaging, more intuitive navigation and a stronger articulation of the Council’s role in supporting an equitable global energy transition. The new site now provides a clearer pathway for prospective members and a more engaging experience for existing ones, supporting ongoing growth and community engagement.

The brief

Barley worked with Alupro to raise awareness of the unintended consequences of an ‘all-in’ deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in Scotland. Our objective was to influence policymakers to move away from a flat-rate deposit for all container sizes, which risked increasing plastic waste rather than reducing it.

Insights and approach

To evidence the potential impact of the proposed DRS, Barley commissioned a poll of 2,000 adults. Two-thirds said they would switch from infinitely recyclable multipack cans to larger plastic bottles if faced with a flat 20p deposit—potentially adding 823 million plastic bottles each year.

We combined insight-led media and political engagement to put pressure on policymakers to consider a variable deposit fee based on container size.

Our strategy centred around well-timed media activity and stakeholder engagement. We launched the polling results ahead of an MSP briefing, offering Alupro’s Executive Director, Rick Hindley, as spokesperson. We developed an infographic to illustrate the risks of the scheme and reinforced the story through national, regional and trade media.

The campaign extended to social media, where we used the hashtag #MakeDRSWork to target MPs, MSPs and other influencers during key parliamentary moments. Barley also produced a stakeholder toolkit for Alupro members to amplify the campaign through their own channels

Results

Barley successfully raised Alupro’s profile at a pivotal point in the Scottish recycling debate. The campaign generated 33 high-quality pieces of coverage, including interviews on BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Scotland TV and STV Scotland Tonight. Print and online articles appeared in The Scotsman, The Herald, The Courier, Edinburgh Evening News, Daily Record and others, alongside 10 trade media features.

On social media, 20 posts achieved 263,710 impressions and strong engagement.

Most importantly, our campaign helped secure recognition from the committee advising the Scottish Government that a variable rate should be considered—positioning Alupro as a key voice in shaping the next phase of policy development.

  • 33

    items of media coverage

  • 20m +

    opportunities to see/hear

  • 264k

    Twitter impressions

  • 2,417

    Twitter engagements

  • 1,497

    Facebook reach

  • 124

    Facebook engagements

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