Axalta
Challenge
When Axalta, a leading global supplier of liquid and powder coatings, was preparing to announce that its new Global Innovation Center would be located at The Navy Yard in Philadelphia, it knew that it needed to make a mark in the community beyond its physical footprint. The 175,000 square foot facility was designed to house Axalta’s global research, product development, and technology initiatives and partner with its other technology centers in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The company, though, was focused on using the event to communicate its investment in STEM workforce development.
Insight
Our team at Slice realized that we needed to create an experience that showcased Axalta and demonstrate its commitment to the Philadelphia area. We went right to work, developing a partnership between the company and Science Leadership Academy, a system of charter schools that delivered STEM education. We recognized that the many community partners would be critical for Axalta’s short and long-term success, so we took the lead coordinating with all parties involved, including Axalta, PIDC, Liberty Property Trust, and city and state officials. To ensure deadlines were met and everything was executed according to plan, Slice developed an internal run-of-show document that included every detail from evite distribution, follow-up and day-of event tasks, to press kit development and distribution of media materials. We designed “AxaltaAtTheYard” as the hashtag to manage and monitor all social media coverage and used Periscope to livestream the event online.
Success
Our integrated approach created a flawless event that generated media coverage in over 40 publications including every major Philadelphia outlet, as well as Commercial Property Executive, Reuters, and Yahoo! Finance. Through social media, the news spread to over 900,000 people online. The partnership we developed between Axalta and the Science Leadership Academy continued well beyond the event.
