elephant called in to support AFM Conference

The Association of Financial Mutuals has brought in elephant communications to run a press office for its Annual Conference, held this year in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The two-day event tackled many of the big market issues that AFM’s members face: the impact of Brexit, regulation, embracing digitisation and asserting the case for the mutual advantage at a time of economic uncertainty.

For the Conference itself, the elephant team conducted feature interviews with members, prepared broadcast media content, developed a photo library and supported social media engagement.

Reflecting on the timing of the AFM Conference, Martin Shaw, CEO of the Association of Financial Mutuals commented, “The UK is going through a period of great change. Mutuals are an obvious solution as they are small and nimble and have very clear priorities – and most important they work in the best interest of their members who own them. This year’s conference marks a new chapter in the history of AFM, which now has a clear mandate to champion the advantage that smaller financial financial mutuals bring, just just it terms of their agility, but their closeness to members and the local communities where they are actively involved. In the months ahead, it is imperative that the smaller financial mutuals work together to navigate their way through the constantly changing economic and political climate we are all confronting. Along the way, we will be faced with both challenges and opportunities, but together we will look forward and ensure financial mutuals remain a choice for consumers and deliver long-term strategies their members members can have confidence in.”

Guy Bellamy, elephant Founder added: “In the current climate our research indicates there are still trust issues between the consumer and the financial services industry and the mutual sector is well placed to assert the merits of mutuality – especially so in the digital age where the consumer is in control.”