MAKING ROLLS-ROYCE PLC. MATTER
Steering Rolls-Royce through reputational turbulence
When faults on Trent 1000 engines disrupted flights in 2018, Rolls-Royce’s impeccable engineering reputation was shaken. A media frenzy was fuelled by misinformation.
To control the story and rebuild investors’ trust – and the trust of employees and airlines – we launched the Power of Trent.
With negativity dominating the press, we diversified tactics to promote the visibility and openness of Rolls-Royce’s side of the story. We used cross-channel amplification to maximise reach, and sequential storytelling to deliver complex information.
Transparency was key, as was consistency across all sources to build confidence over time.
We managed the story across content, media partnerships, geo-targeted advertising, search, targeted social, internal comms and PR. In the first three months, we produced dozens of assets each week, informed by continuous analysis of online conversations.
In just three months, the power of our integrated campaign changed industry, investor and employee attitudes. Over the course of the campaign, billions were regained in share value, and Rolls-Royce won new sales of the Trent 1000.
