One word:Â colonialism.
The Problem:
In August 2022 we were approached by Verizon UK to host a panel event to celebrate South Asian Heritage month. They wanted to create a 'moment' at work to get people engaged with the Asian immigrant experience. The theme for South Asian Heritage Month 2022 was: Journeys of Empire.
We proposed a panel event that covered the following topics:Â
The immigrant experienceÂ
Being a British Asian person in the UK and taking up spaceÂ
Colonialism - how it's impacted our journey and identity, where it still impacts us all today
Stereotypes and how we can be better ally'sÂ
The 2022 theme also marked 2 significant anniversaries: 75 years since partition and independence in 1947 and 50 years since the expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972. Empire and colonialism were the essential pillars to this panel event to discuss the reason Asian immigrants were situated in Britain and exactly what the theme of 2022 was recognising.
The Solution:
We designed a 60 minute panel discussion, hosted and facilitated by us with 3 Verizon employees, including executives, on the panel to contribute their experiences. From wireframing to run throughs, the Verizon team were involved. With weekly calls, we ensured to create the session and ‘moment’ they were looking for.
We were due to deliver on 29th September 2022. 21 days before on the 8th September, Queen Elizabeth II passed away. Suddenly, confidence was lost by the client to cover colonialism in the session. In our final walkthrough with senior leadership members, the content on colonialism was met with awkwardness and we were asked to remove it. There were fears that it would weigh the session down and create negativity.Â
But this was exactly why we needed to talk about it and exactly what our style is as a company - embracing the discomfort but making it accessible. Instead of backing down and removing the content, we adjusted some of it and reassured them that the work would be delivered in a sensitive manner to make people feel included, rather than awkward.
Verizon was our second ever corporate client. We were new to the game and this was a real test of not just our client relationship but on whether our disruptive strategy would actually pay off. But we stuck to our magic formula:
Product.
The product was slick and accurately targeted how Verizon wanted to amplify the British Asian immigrant experience in the workplace. We designed a panel event that created a safe space to discuss the topics.
Content.
We were thorough in our discovery process and knew that we couldn't discuss the immigrant experience without the colonial context that underpinned it. But we weren't delivering a history lesson. Ria used the lived experience and her families stories to explore this accessibly.
Approach.
We did a temperature check. In light of recent events, we knew our delivery would make or break this session.
The Outcome:
They loved it and the 'moment' they were searching for was created. In fact, some of the C-suite team who had voiced their concerns mentioned that they were glad we kept the content as it was because it worked. We took a jump, Verizon trusted us and it paid off.
