CASE STUDIES

Wintershall Dea

The Challenge

Wintershall Dea was formed from the merger of Wintershall Holding GmbH and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, in 2019, to become Europe’s leading independent natural gas and oil company with more than 120 years of experience as an operator and project partner along the entire E&P value chain. Today, the company employs around 2,800 people worldwide from over 60 nations.

Wintershall is an established customer of bridg:media. The company engaged us to secure a wide coverage of the its merger with DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG in local media in UAE, as well as across the GCC.

With rising global demand, highly volatile prices and increasingly stringent environmental regulations, the oil and gas industry faces three major challenges: reduce costs, optimize the performance of its industrial base assets and improve its environmental footprint.

Having an objective of contributing to a better world for future generations by addressing two major challenges: meeting the world’s growing energy demand and mitigating climate change, Wintershall Dea engaged bridge:media to plan and organise a press conference as part of the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) 2019. The event was aimed to address mechanisms to face the major challenges facing the oil and gas industry, particularly how to meet the growing global demand for energy, while protecting the climate. It was also intended to showcase Witershall Dea’s state-of-the-art smart technologies including Industry 4.0, as well as its activities worldwide following its merger.

The UAE being an international economic hub and home for many giant companies from around the globe, competition is very high and getting a slot for news in the media is a challenge.

bridge:media's approach

Amongst other things, bridg:media services included the preparation and translation of a press release in English and Arabic to announce the merger.

With a strong trusted connections with the media representatives, in addition to experience in linking the news articles to local interests in order to facilitate better coverage, bridge:media succeeded in gaining the attention of local media to cover the merger.

bridge:media provided Wintershall Dea with comprehensive event management services for the press conference and was responsible for both, media relations and invitation management. These tasks implied the creation of a media list, while a continuous liaising activity was carried out with journalists to guarantee a large number of attendees from various local and international media outlets.

Moreover, several interviews with the CEO of the company for publication in leading national dailies was arranged on the occasion. The interviews were published several times in major Arabic newspapers of the United Arab Emirates. Additionally, a televised interview with a well-known channel was also arranged.

Outcome

Through a distribution of the press release to key national media of the UAE and to major publications across the Arabian Gulf region, the merger was communicated to a wide audience. The interview was also published several times in major Arabic newspapers of the United Arab Emirates.

bridge:media's programme for Wintershall Dea’s press event was effective, obtaining an outstanding media coverage and a remarkable journalists' participation.

A large number of representatives from Arabic, English media outlets attended the press conference, ensuring an extensive media coverage in distinct media categories. The goal of achieving a high level of publicity and media coverage in Arabic and English language for Wintershall Dea’s merger, technologies and activities in the UAE, was reached successfully.

Before the merger

The Challenge

Wintershall Holding GmbH, part of the BASF Group, is Germany's largest producer of crude oil and natural gas. The company has been active in the exploration and production of these natural resources for more than 75 years. In line with the company's ambitions to expand its operations in the Middle East, Wintershall opened a new office in Abu Dhabi, underlining the importance that the company attributes to the emirate as one of the most significant centres of oil and gas operations in the Gulf region.

The opening of the Abu Dhabi office was an important opportunity to raise awareness about the company with the regional audience, including relations to governments as well as national oil companies and partners. This issue being the main challenge, the communications campaign additionally had to take into account that Wintershall's local competitors have a monopoly, which puts them in a very strong position, and enjoy a positive public image.

In addition, Wintershall also required regional media consultancy services. These were intended mainly to help determine which Arabic media outlets should be targeted in the realm of this campaign, in order for the key messages to be communicated to Arabic-speaking decision-makers of the country.

bridge:media's approach

bridge:media's services for Wintershall were provided at short notice as an ad-hoc communications and consultancy campaign on the occasion of the launch event for the Wintershall office in Abu Dhabi. Services included amongst other things the preparation and translation of a press release in English and Arabic to announce the event. Through a distribution of the press release to key national media of the UAE and to major publications across the Arabian Gulf region, the launch event was communicated to a wide audience.

Moreover, an interview with the CEO of the company for publication in leading national dailies was arranged on the occasion of the opening of Wintershall's new office in Abu Dhabi. The interview was published several times in major Arabic newspapers of the United Arab Emirates. Consultancy services included advice on suitable topics and wording to meet the requirements of regional audiences and press, as well as intense media relations services to liaise with relevant editors.

As a follow-up service to the event, press monitoring and documentation services for all press coverage resulting from the communications campaign were provided for Wintershall, including analyses and summaries in English language of the articles that were published in Arabic.

Outcome

The goal of achieving a high level of publicity and media coverage in Arabic language for the launch of Wintershall's Abu Dhabi office was reached successfully. On the one hand, the ad-hoc communications campaign managed to make Wintershall known to a wider regional audience by distributing a press release on the event in English and Arabic. In addition, decision-makers of the country were also reached through the press release that was sent to leading Arabic media outlets known to address a high-level audience.

The ad-hoc communications campaign on the occasion of the opening of Wintershall's new Abu Dhabi office led to increased attention from both a wider public and key decision-makers of the country. The message communicated to both target groups allowed for increased attention being drawn to Wintershall as a company that is not only a major European player but also very successful in the Middle Eastern market and that values the Arabian Gulf as one of the most significant centers of oil and gas operations.