Zlota 44 Tower, Warsaw
Category: Public Affairs;
Advertiser: ORCO PROPERTY GROUP;
Product/Service: ZLOTA 44 TOWER;
Client Service Director: Anna Hahn-Lesniewska (Partner of Promotion);
Account Director: Emilia Hahn (Partner of Promotion).
Great cities need great investments. Libeskind’s Sail, a luxurious sail-shaped apartment tower, is the first Daniel Libeskind’s project in Poland. This incredible 54-storey and 192m high investment developed by Orco Group emerged in the very heart of Warsaw till July 2009, when the group of several people sued its construction permit issued by the Mayor of Warsaw, simultaneously demanding a huge compensation for the hypothetical losses caused by investment.
In result, the Regional Administrative Court has cancelled Libeskind’s Sail building permit and withheld its further construction. The suspension had economical consequences. It caused Orco’s financial loss reaching €170,000 per day and meant significant architectural and economic waste both for Warsaw and the whole country.
In March 2010, the agency started the public affairs campaign which aimed at reaching the strategic opinion forming and decision-making groups that might have affected the Court’s decision and, in result; expedite the investment by facilitating all the procedures related to its further development.
After only the 7 months of the comprehensive PR/PA actions, the agency built a strong municipal and political support for the Orco’s investment. In result it was possible to accelerate the re-launch of the Libeskind’s Sail construction works.
Since the very beginning of its construction the Libeskind’s Sail was supposed to be the most prestigious and luxurious apartment building in Poland.
The plight of Libeskind’s tower has been extensively covered both in Polish media and international media. On June 29, 2010 The Wall Street Journal published a special blog post entitled "Why Poland Can’t Build Fast Enough," which highlighted the legal barriers’ harmful influence on the position of Poland in the global rankings.
The most important goals of the PR/PA campaign run for Orco were to influence the city authorities’ attitude towards the further construction and to defend the prestigious and reputable image of Orco Group. The main point was to show that the withdrawal decision resulted from the administrative, not Orco’s mistake. The campaign aimed at preserving the positive image of Libeskind’s Sail as a very attractive location and was directed to Orco’s current and potential clients.
Moreover, the PR activities have also emphasized the significance of the project’s completion and its influence on the capital’s overall image, especially before Euro 2012.
The public affairs activities run for Orco’s investment had three main points:
- Operational: to accelerate the Supreme Administrative Court’s (SAC) decision regarding the re-launch of the project’s construction works.
- Associated: to create a strong support for the investment’s re-launch among opinion forming and decision-making groups including municipal and political circles.
- Strategic: to create a friendly social attitude towards the investment’s re-launch by emphasizing the huge significance of its quick completion as well as its great importance for the Warsaw’s image during Euro 2012.
Other important goals were to avoid the situation in which the investment could have become the element of war between past, current and potential city’s authorities or worse, the element of the municipal election campaign planned for November 2010.
At the beginning of the campaign, the agency conducted such preoperational activities like:
- Preparation of the brief information regarding the Libeskind’s Sail, which was distributed during meetings with the city’s authorities.
- Elaboration of the Q&A material.
The activities mentioned above were implemented with the use of such tools as: Bilateral meetings of Orco’s representatives with selected municipal officers (City Hall, the Council of Warsaw, the District Mayor and the District Council).
- Official letters supporting their arrangement.
The conducted PR activities included also:
- Individual meetings and dynamic media relations with the most important journalists.
- Press releases and telephone interviews.
- Engagement of independent experts who played the role of key opinion leaders (support).
- International law expert.
- The foreign international investment expert.
Złota 44 Tower: Apartments
In October 2010, after 7 months of the comprehensive PR activities that resulted in nearly 200 press and online publications and over 50 TV and radio auditions, the local authorities upheld the building’s construction permit. The main goal of the campaign was achieved. The restored construction works that started in December will take two years; so by Euro 2012, there will progress only the last finishing and elevation works.
The PR campaign, run with the strong support of city’s authorities and public opinion, was a huge success.
The state of art Libeskind’s Sail, the unique residential project will become a new landmark of Warsaw. In two years it will revive the skyline of the Polish capital and encourage new investors to lay out their funds in Poland.