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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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