Internal communications: Vodafone (Voice)

Telling the story of the business strategy through the achievements and adventures of employees

The brief

The Voice is an essential channel for Vodafone UK to reach employees working for its UK operation. Its focus had been on sharing news on employee social events, business activities and human resources information. By late 2003, employee support for The Voice had plummeted, with just 9% of employees stating that they thought it was a valuable communications tool.

We were engaged to review existing research findings, and if appropriate, relaunch the magazine or propose an alternative.

The solution

Reviewing the available research, we discovered that employees felt The Voice lacked relevance to the direction that the business was pursuing. Our response was to ensure that the magazine remained business-led. We took the decision to retain the name, shortening it to Voice. The entire editorial process was redesigned and we introduced a written style that is far less corporate.

Today, Voice is a 24-page A5 colour magazine produced on a quarterly basis for the 11,000 employees working for Vodafone in the UK. Since its relaunch, 93% of UK employees recall seeing a copy of Voice, 92% find it more relevant, interesting and engaging and overall 91% think Voice is Excellent/Very Good/Good. *

(* Vodafone UK readership survey, November 2004)

CiB Communication Excellence Awards 2004 - finalist