Thought Leadership programme for IMD

Backgound: IMD is a top ranked global business school based in Lausanne, Switzerland

IMD wished to enhance its profile in the Middle East to attract more regional business leaders for its executive learning programmes and enhance the institute's profile in the region
Challenge: At the time we started the PR campaign for IMD in the Middle East, one of the issues we faced was the general lack of awareness among media of IMD and its global ranking.

Also, the fact that IMD does not have a campus in the region unlike some of its competitors, affected its media visibility.

PR Tactics: Iris PR developed a thought leadership platform for IMD which involved publishing of by-lined articles from IMD Faculty and Dean in select publications in the region.

The Agency worked alongside IMD's partners in the region to highlight the findings of its annual World Competitiveness Report (WCR)to regional media.

Iris PR organized regional media trips for IMD's annual Orchestrating Winning Programme for executives from around the world.

The Agency also invited media to attend IMD's Business Forums in UAE and Egypt. Interviews were organized with IMD's visiting faculty whenever they visited the region including UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Results: Since the Agency signed up with IMD, the institute's profile and awareness level in the region has improved. Numerous articles and interviews with IMD were published in leading media like Gulf Business, Arabian Business, Capital Business, Gulf News, Khaleej Times, Al Sharq, Arab News, Arab Times, Times of Oman among others.

IMD's WCR is now widely known in the region with many leaders tweeting about UAE's position. Tweeting about the report's ranking of UAE, Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum said: "I congratulate our President and the numerous teams who made this possible. To the world we say: UAE people settle for no less than 1st place."