Backbase
Aligning a global team of 1.500 employees
Client
Backbase is an award-winning, industry-leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) banking platform. It’s software empowers banks and financial institutions in their Digital and AI transformations. They are an Amsterdam-based FinTech unicorn. Website: backbase.com
Briefing
Aligning all 1.500 team-members across the company's 14 global offices on strategy, priorities and challenges in the annual kickoff video. Beyond the contents, the film was an important opportunity to strengthen connection, team-spirit and enthusiasm across the company.
Problem
In a company growing this fast, spread out around the globe across 4 continents, it is difficult to make all team-members feel equally included.
Insight
As we just positioned Backbase as a human centered, purpose driven brand at the annual conference we were allowed to add a deeper and more personal layer to this film too.
Solution
We opened the film with a never-told-before personal story from Founder and CEO Jouk Pleiter on the origins of Backbase, filmed in his private home for maximum authenticity and intimacy. Department strategies were delivered as genuine conversations rather than scripted presentations, drawn out by an empathetic interviewer. To extend the feeling of involvement beyond leadership, we invited a diverse range of team members from across all locations and levels of the company to contribute their own self-filmed reflections on the year ahead — giving the wider organisation a voice in the film itself.
Result
The kickoff was screened simultaneously in cinemas across all global locations, followed by a live-streamed Q&A with Jouk from the Amsterdam headquarters. The personal approach landed with immediate force: applause broke out across viewing locations, and Jouk received messages from across the world saying things like: "Thank you for reminding me why I chose to work here."
The screening took place simultaneously in cinemas across the globe, these images show the Amsterdam screening with Q&A and speech of CEO Jouk Pleiter.
Testimonials
Jouk Pleiter, Backbase CEO & Founder
“Elwin and his team did a great job helping us to move our internal and external communications / story telling to the next level. Keywords: Smart, Empathy and Passioned about the work they deliver.”
Tim Rutten, Backbase CMO
“Elwin is a one-of-a-kind brand and overall marketing strategist whom I can highly recommend after having been a client multiple times. He will simply not stop until he gets to the essence of what you're trying to achieve and the purpose it serves. In his own unique way - he will challenge you to be more crisp than ever before - and take the leap forward to bring it to life in an "out there" and differentiating approach. Want to stand out and have fun while building together? Seek no further. He's your guy!”