De Lage Landen
Active fans / Audience, Business development, Employee engagement, Hospitality, Learning and development, Sales

Objective
  • To connect with 5,600 employees across the globe and become ‘One DLL’ – a one networked organisation.
  • To launch DLL’s new brand vision and host customer dedicated programmes across international stopovers.
  • DLL to become an increasingly integrated, high-performing networked organization.
Outcome
  • Six customer events were organised across the 2013-14 race edition, which led to a €100 million increase in new business revenue.
  • The Clipper Race perfectly suited DLL’s journey to become ‘One DLL’, as it required members to undertake a global journey, while working together on shared goals.
  • 91 global teams, made up of 510 virtual sailors, signed up to the ‘Virtual Clipper Race’. These teams represented 30 nationalities and 47 offices around the world. 43 winners visited Clipper Race stopovers.
  • Throughout the Clipper 2013-14 Race, employees and customers attended an extensive schedule of networking events, and 990 guests sailed with DLL in sailing regattas organised in key stopover ports.
  • DLL ambassadors engaged with an audience of 22,150 unique visitors, through 170 blogs generating 2,000 comments.
  • Ten DLL employee activation events were scheduled at international stopovers across the course of the Clipper 2013-14 Race, with 1,388 employees attending.
  • Office CSR days saw 1,000 US employees join in initiatives linked to the Clipper Race, giving back to their local communities.
Activation

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

  • The boat name, ‘OneDLL,’ stood for one team, united behind a common mission.
  • The successful partnership of the 2011-12 edition of the race led to DLL doubling its activation during the Clipper 2013–14 Race, capitalising on previously untapped sponsorship assets, such as live video link ups during the race and forming teams from different country offices to take part in the ‘Virtual Clipper Race’ online.

DLL’s employees were offered a number of engagement opportunities:

  • Employees were asked to nominate colleagues to take part in a leg of the Clipper Race and then voted for who went through to the Clipper Race Bootcamp. The Clipper Race Bootcamp selected the 17 DLL ambassadors who took part in a leg of the race.
  • A DLL shore crew was created to organise Clipper Race related initiatives in DLL offices around the world to connect and support their colleagues on board during the race.
  • DLL created an online version of the Clipper Race for global teams to race their own virtual yachts. The winning team joined the next Clipper Race stopover to sail on board OneDLL and work on community projects in port. Their race experience and personal learnings were presented back to colleagues from their different regions.
  • A series of international events were hosted on and off the water during the race at numerous race stopover ports. Events included regattas, symposiums, leadership meetings, live video links during the DLL annual dinner party, member events and multiple sailing days.

MEMBER ACTIVATION

  • Large member activations for groups of 200 were run in the key ports of Brest, Sydney and New York. In Den Helder, the Dutch port close to DLL’s Global Headquarters, more than 250 members from 15 European DLL offices gathered to celebrate the arrival of the Clipper Race fleet.
  • The group also joined the Official Prize Giving for Race 15, which was named The ‘OneDLL’ Cup, before taking part in an exclusive sailing regatta on ten of the Clipper Race yachts.
  • Six customer events were arranged across key stopovers, including London, Rio, Albany, Singapore, San Francisco and Den Helder. Customers were invited to attend Customer Advisory Board meetings and take part in a unique sailing team building challenge which connected customers to the ‘One DLL’ vision and highlighted DLL’s commitment to CSR.
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The Clipper Race has unified our company.

We see it in the pride, the passion, and the creativity of our employees who are embracing their Clipper Race team and realising that we are one global team to serve our clients in over 38 countries.

Bill Stephenson, CEO, De Lage Landen