Nathalie Haxby had never worked in face-to-face events before starting her role as global head of corporate communications for the world’s second largest exhibition organiser. She came in to oversee the rebrand from Reed Exhibitions to RX, before being thrown headfirst into the deep end with a new CEO and the total cessation of live events. The global head of corporate communications at RX, talks to EN about unifying the company and show brands and her pride at seeing their stories shared.
What were you expecting when you came into post?
Leading the comms team of a global organisation that creates magical and memorable live experiences, while building business for its customers, was a huge attraction for me.
It would be an understatement to say that things didn’t quite go to plan.
My initial brief was to focus on making the corporate RX brand a stickier proposition and to improve internal communications between our global HQ, local offices and show teams. On my first day I was told that Hugh Jones had been appointed as the new CEO and was starting at the beginning of February, so my focus quickly switched to introducing him and laying out his vision for the company. Then Covid happened. My onboarding came to a premature halt as I joined our teams to work hard to explain what was happening from week to week.
As the pandemic developed, external communications rapidly became a much bigger part of my remit. It became clear that we quickly needed to balance the media coverage around cancellations and postponements with positive news. RX had moved very quickly into using digital products and developing virtual events to keep our communities and customers connected. So, while we couldn’t avoid talking about cancellations, we could share these incredible feats of innovation, talk about the amazing talent within our organisation, and highlight what we were doing to enrich our industry and support it through the pandemic.
How has RX changed since then?
When I arrived at RX there was little connection with the outside world at a corporate level, it was all about the show brands and RX took a back seat. We decided to take a more integrated approach to our communications to create a stronger connection between the RX brand and our market-leading show brands.
That had to start with our look and feel, what we stood for of course, and how we behaved as a global company. In September 2020, Hugh asked me to review our brand identity and platforms, internally and externally, to reflect the company in a post-Covid world. We were transforming ourselves into a more unified, nimble, diverse, and innovative company. We wanted our brand identity to reflect this, and to highlight both the enduring power of face-to-face shows and the exciting opportunities of digital for our customers and to attract new skills into the business.
What difference has the rebrand from Reed Exhibitions to RX had, both within the company and wider perception? How do the individual portfolio brands and RX brand sit together?
Before joining RX, I had spent over 20 years working in marketing and communications, primarily in the advertising media industry. I lived through a huge digital transformation of that industry with Facebook, Google and others really flexing their might in the advertising space. It was incredibly interesting for a communications specialist because we had to completely rethink our advertising and media business.
Accommodating these big new players demanded a real shift in internal culture and behaviour both internally and how we presented ourselves externally. I find a lot of similarities in the shift to digital in the exhibitions industry and so that was our starting point for the rebrand.
Historically there had been a disconnect between RX and the show brands. The pandemic made it clear that all our events could, should and in the end did, align on messaging to customers and so the goal was to carry that unification and integration into the future.
At RX we’re developing digital platforms centrally to the benefit of all our events; sustainability, inclusion and diversity are important to all our events and to our customers; and we have great stories to share globally.
My goal was and is to join up all those dots, talk about RX as an amazing place to work and that if you do come to work at RX, whatever your sector passion, you will get a diverse experience, and opportunities right around the world. Let’s not forget we’re a part of RELX too, with even more opportunities for career progression in different industries. And it’s working. When I joined, we had 90,000 followers of RX external corporate channels, today we’re at about 250,000 followers. We create original RX content, and we share stories from our shows everywhere. RX is our show brands, and our show brands are RX.
Our rebrand has been a unifying experience for our company. The best feeling is seeing our people proudly sharing our stories on their own social networks. That for me is the definition of success.
What changes to wider marketing strategies do you see coming down the line?
If digital transformed how we do marketing, then sustainability will be critical to a whole new generation of consumers and customers. Marketing campaigns of the future will be rooted in sustainability and exhibition companies will need to walk the talk internally if they are going to do it externally. Brand choices in the future will be made based on a brand’s environmental impact and its diverse and inclusive customer base.
Customer data privacy will become an even hotter topic and what we’re doing as an industry to protect that data will be key – especially as it relates to marketing and how we communicate with customers about how we use their data.
What do you think the most important features are for corporate communications managers at exhibition organisers?
Be open, be flexible, be collaborative and always be on the lookout for the stories that bring to life what you do, with purpose. This industry is so diverse, we touch every sector out there, with people of all backgrounds working together. You can really make a difference by sharing experiences and bringing your company culture and purpose to life to raise your brand awareness. Oh, and embrace change. It makes you stronger without doubt.
