Everyone deserves the ultimate restaurant or shopping experience. However, for many people, it isn’t obvious. In Belgium, 1.4 million people with disabilities struggle to access basic services.
Comeos, Inter, and CAWaB joined forces to develop a comprehensive action plan called ‘‘De Warmste Entree / Après Vous’ to improve accessibility for all. The goal is to ensure everyone can shop with full equality.
We supported Comeos with branding, communication planning, internal communication among members and the public relations component of the campaign. The first step? Engaging Comeos’ members and the Belgian retail sector, which employs over 550,000 people, in fully supporting the initiative and investing in accessible shopping experiences for all.
Starting from a brand and communication strategy, we created a visual identity that reflects the core values of this much-needed initiative: accessibility, warmth, care and inclusiveness.
A landing page on the initiative’s platform gives all stakeholders access to relevant information. A digital guide offers advice for Belgian commerce on optimising their infrastructure for better accessibility in any form. Customised content was created to easily engage people in the ambitious plan of this initiative.
A step-by-step communication plan was put in place to build up impact and engagement among all stakeholders. A creative direct mailing targeted all CEOs of Belgian retailers. The message was simple yet powerful: help us invest in accessibility for 1.4 million people in Belgium.
De Warmste Entree/Après Vous has already proven very successful, receiving support from Belgian retailers like ZEB. Even the royal family paid a visit to discuss the importance of the initiative. Ikea and Starbucks are other best practices that have made significant investments to enhance accessibility. They have implemented various measures, such as developing products that cater to the functional needs of customers and recruiting employees with disabilities to adapt their services to certain customer requirements.
