Team Otis — The Making of a Partnership
The Partnership Begins
Planning for this global partnership involved numerous strategy sessions with key Special Olympics staff to discuss how Otis Elevator could successfully launch, and then sustain, its employee volunteer initiative. The objective was to rally around Special Olympics Programs in countries where Otis had major company presence, either with large corporate offices or large manufacturing operations. For Otis, this represented about 54 countries.
Target Audience
There were two major target audiences for this initiative: Otis employees in the company's four global regions (Latin America, North America, Asia Pacific and Europe) and the Directors of Special Olympics Programs where the matches were to be made.
For many, if not most, Otis employees outside the United States, there was little or no familiarity with Special Olympics. The communications strategy played a critical role in moving the concept forward. The intent of Otis Elevator had to be made known to its employees, and it also had to be clearly understood by Special Olympics Program staff.
The Brainstorming Begins
During the fall of 1994, the Vice President of Communications for Otis Elevator brought his staff together for a free-wheeling brainstorming session. The focus was to give the concept a name and some identity. It was during one of these sessions that the name "Team Otis" was conceived. The communications staff also wanted to add a little more "pizzazz" to the project, and came up with a tagline: "Lifting Humanity." Since many parts of the world use the term "lifts" to mean elevators, the two-word tagline, or slogan, gave double meaning to the effort.
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