When it comes to the oil business, they don’t come much bigger than BP. In 1990 the company embarked on the most business critical project in its history, The ESP Project. The company was to change its entire transaction and accounting systems from mainframe, country and business specific systems to a client server based system with a common framework throughout Europe. Communications were critical to the entire venture. It was vital to gain support and co-operation from the boardroom to the garage forecourt if the project was to gain business acceptance.

The Project.

The brief was to communicate the progress and aims of the ESP to management and staff across 5 businesses in 17 European countries. In addition, we were to co-ordinate communications with Oracle Corporation in California who were creating the accounting system. Our role was to report on the progress and communicate the aims of the project. In addition we canvassed and evaluated opinions and concerns from system users and business stakeholders.

Focus

• Produce a quarterly video which looked at how the project was progressing with views from around Europe. The video had roving reports, interviews and a “Question Time” style panel to discuss current concerns from users and stakeholders.
• Design and produce a monthly 12 page newsletter in 6 languages and 5 editions.
• Create an Annual roadshow visiting 30 locations around Europe to be attended by around 15,000 delegates each year.
• Created a collaborative Intranet which allowed programmers and project managers to communicate on a Pan European basis.

Achievements

• Established a structured communications programme that delivered highly targeted information to every level of the business.
• Established one of the first Intranet systems in Europe.
• Produced and distributed over 500 separate documents including Newsletters, White Papers, and User Information Packs, many of which were directly influential on specification and implementation of the project. Most of these documents were produced in 6 languages.
• Produced over 50 videos ranging from quarterly bulletins to training videos. This involved filming across 17 European Countries using local crew.
• Established and maintained constant contact with the project teams and senior management across Europe in order to gather information and co-ordinate communications objectives.

Results

• Under BP contract rules we had to pitch for the project on an annual basis. We won the contact on this basis for 5 consecutive years until the project terminated.
• Every aspect of the contract was delivered on time and within budget.
• The ESP Programme was a great success and thanks to our efforts was almost seamlessly integrated into the business.