VOR a success for ASSA

The Swedish lockmakers release the results of their in house global survey

One year after the start of the Volvo Ocean Race in Southampton ASSA ABLOY have announced the results of their final employee survey, that examined the effects of the race on their company. The Global manager- and employee survey that has been carried out by the international research company OPTICOM shows that 14 250 employees during the year have increased their knowledge about ASSA ABLOY's mission, priorities and ways of working. 18 250 employees feel very proud of belonging to the ASSA ABLOY Group. In total the survey includes 70 companies in the Group.

In addition, ASSA ABLOY's brand exposure during the Volvo Ocean Race is estimated to US$ 57.1 million. ASSA ABLOY was the syndicate that generated the
largest quantity of brand exposure on television with 122 hours at a value of MUSD 54.5 and over 6000 articles to a value of MUSD 2.6. The study was executed by the worldwide independent research group, Sports Marketing Survey (SMS) that has kept track of the exposure for Volvo and ASSA ABLOY Racing Team. Besides this, some 3000 ASSA ABLOY articles were clipped in Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Norway and Finland that were not included in the SMS's research.

"ASSA ABLOY has participated in the Volvo Ocean race to integrate more than 100 companies around the world with the ambition to unite all companies under a common vision as well as common values and work ethics. We have managed three to four years of integration work within a nine moth period. The results have exceeded our expectations by far", says Anna Bernsten, Vice President Corporate Communication ASSA ABLOY and responsible for the integration project.

"Volvo Ocean Race is one of the world's largest sports events and has been followed by more than a billion radio listeners. The event website, on which ASSA ABLOY Racing Team had considerable attention, had three million unique visitors during the race period. This gives us a media exposure value of more than MUSD 60 which is fantastic", continues Anna Bernsten.

"The overall response rate of the global manager- and employee survey is 80 percent and thanks to the high number, the results are significant and indicate a high level of involvement among managers and employees. It is very valuable that ASSA ABLOY has done extensive surveys before, during and after the race. Managers- and employees surveys are an important commitment that employees as well as external parties have the right to share and that many large corporations seldom consider", says Carl Michael Bergman, CEO of OPTICOM International Research.

OPTICOM has examined the surveys that have been carried out before the start, during the race and after the finish and concluded that the participation has had a fantastic impact amongst the employees in the Group. The following are some of the highlights from the survey:

. Pride
. Engagement
. Involvement
. Knowledge
. Customer benefit


The results in brief:

- The Volvo Ocean Race has increased the pride of being part of the ASSA ABLOY Group.

- 87 percent of the managers feel more proud of belonging to the Group because of the participation in the Volvo Ocean Race and 18 250 employees (73 percent) are proud to work in ASSA ABLOY Group.
- In addition a majority (87 percent) of the managers believe that VOR has helped spreading knowledge to their customers about ASSA ABLOY and 62 percent believe that they have been able to use the race to increase the knowledge about the local company among the customers.

- 14, 250 employees have increased their knowledge about ASSA ABLOY's values, way of working and management philosophy during one year, from the early summer 2001 to the summer 2002. The positive attitude to the Group has increased, more than 17 250 employees (69 percent) are positive to ASSA ABLOY. Worth noting is that only 2 percent are negative.

- The communication around Volvo Ocean Race has been very good according to the managers, 97 percent believe that they received enough information about ASSA ABLOY's participation during the race.

Facts about the survey:
In total the survey includes 70 companies within the ASSA ABLOY Group, 4,312 employees whereof 604 managers have participated. The Group has at the start of Volvo Ocean race approx. 25,000 employees* and has, because of a number of acquisitions during the race approx. 30,000 employees today. The surveys have been carried out in 14 languages to achieve a high response rate and to avoid possible misinterpretations. The response rate is in total 80 percent. The Process has been going on for one year and a reference point survey was carried out prior to the start of the race.

OPTICOM International Research AB, specialized in international marketing analyzes and surveys, was given the assignment to plan, carry out and report about ASSA ABLOY's surveys in connection to the company's participation in the Volvo Ocean Race.

Notes:
*The given figures are based on 25 000 employees which was the total number of employees within the ASSA ABLOY Group at the start of the survey.