IAPCO – Unlocking Excellence Global Advocacy Campaign
Client:
The International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) engaged Zadro to conceive, develop and deliver a global advocacy and marketing campaign that would elevate the Professional Conference Organiser (PCO) profession and position IAPCO accreditation as the gold standard for quality in the global meetings industry.
Launched in September 2024, Unlocking Excellence was deliberately designed as a long-term advocacy platform rather than a short-term campaign. From concept through to global rollout, Zadro created a unifying campaign framework that has been leveraged throughout 2025 and will continue to support IAPCO’s advocacy, marketing and member engagement efforts into 2026 and beyond.
Objectives
- To create a global advocacy and marketing campaign to champion the PCO profession and serve as a unifying advocacy platform for IAPCO
- To promote and elevate IAPCO accreditation as the quality mark of PCOs
- To advocate the value of IAPCO Accredited PCOs to associations, suppliers and the global meetings community
- To increase awareness and understanding of the PCO profession beyond the meetings industry
- To strengthen IAPCO’s global brand exposure and perception
- To support member business growth through increased referrals, engagement and client opportunities
- To inspire the next generation of leaders to enter and progress within the industry
- To deliver a measurable advocacy campaign with clear, quantifiable outcomes
Strategy
- Led discovery and consultation with IAPCO HQ and volunteer committees to identify advocacy priorities, audience gaps and strategic opportunities
- Conceived Unlocking Excellence as a distinctive, ownable campaign concept capable of uniting advocacy, marketing and education under one narrative
- Developed clear advocacy pillars to guide messaging, storytelling and content creation
- Created a compelling brand story and visual identity to ensure global consistency and cut-through
- Designed a scalable campaign framework that empowered IAPCO, members, partners and ambassadors to actively participate and advocate
- Planned and executed a phased global rollout across owned, earned and shared channels
- Embedded measurement and reporting to track reach, engagement and brand impact
Results
- 966 new LinkedIn followers
- 2 million+ Facebook users reached
- 200,000+ LinkedIn engagements
- 6 million+ Instagram impressions
- 32 pieces of global media coverage
- 1 million+ readers reached worldwide
Beyond the numbers, Unlocking Excellence has proven to be a durable and flexible advocacy platform. Since its launch in September 2024, the campaign has been consistently leveraged throughout 2025 to support IAPCO’s marketing, advocacy, education and partnership activity, and will continue to underpin communications and engagement into 2026, reinforcing long-term brand value rather than delivering a one-off spike in visibility.