Sorcha Hellyer & Gabriele Villa

Putting Our Expertise at Your Service

Working as a husband and wife team for 4 years, we have a combined experience on the field of nearly 2 decades in the research,  preparation and elaboration of country profiles and special features. In the past we have been privileged to produce reports for publication in many of the world's most important and influential international media. Our previous work with a range of different agencies gave us an incredible opportunity to work closely with governments and major business players on the global stage and practice the art of international communications.

In lots of emerging countries, the development of many sectors relies on foreign capital and many countries remain starved of FDI due to a lack of awareness of opportunities or due to a lack of investor confidence. When was the last time you picked up a newspaper or turned on the TV to see some "good news" about an African country or growing Asian company? Our reports go some way towards counter-balancing the way in which the world sees such countries. By opening the window on the vision of opportunities we hope to encourage a different point of view, interest and to a certain extent reverse these tendencies to report only negative stories.

The current economic outlook has even left many so-called “sophisticated markets” struggling to present themselves favourably. A number of sectors in nations that were once seen as the bastions of financial stability have also been hit hard by recession. This means that countries and entities need to work harder than ever to build confidence and to communicate the value of their offerings. For "communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing"1

It is our belief that our reports have the power to change people's perceptions, challenge pre-conceived ideas and arouse interest. At the same time they offer our clients the opportunity to promote their position in the economic landscape of the country, raise brand awareness in the target market and often demonstrate their willingness to branch out or find joint venture partners.

We are proud to have travelled extensively and to have learned about so many different countries and cultures. In the course of our work, collaboration and partnership with governments and companies worldwide has been a crucial factor in our success.  For each project we gather material on the economic landscape covering varied topics from government reforms, FDI and investment opportunities, macro-economics, and  business success stories. Creating a feature requires a great deal of patience and dedication. Much as we love Italy and the UK we do not remain in our countries of birth, but instead travel to, and work in, the country for which we are to publish a report. By researching the editorial from a base in the country in question we are able to meet with the government ministers, official institutions and leading businessmen in order to best represent and present their points of view to our readers.

We aim to portray the strongest sectors in each country, skilfully bringing together sectors as diverse as banking & finance, energy, IT & telecommunications and tourism for example with the hard work of experienced writers with whom we collaborate closely. As well as being a rewarding experience on a personal level, the time spent conducting interviews results in an in-depth analysis of each country.  Of course in the process of conducting live interviews, we have had the pleasure of meeting some of the most important and influential political and business leaders around the world. Sharing in their thoughts and opinions has been an honour and imparting our own has often resulted in an interesting exchange and sometimes in lifelong friendship.

We make a dynamic cosmopolitan team. Gabriele is Italian with an education in Political Science and a background in tourism and media work. Sorcha is British with a degree in Drama & French and work experience as diverse as PR consulting with specialism in the tourism and travel sector, recruitment & sales consulting and communications.  Both of us speak English and Italian fluently, French proficiently and possess a very basic, but fundamental knowledge of several other languages that we have learned on our travels around the world. 

By working in unison with global communications departments our reports directly complement the marketing and communications strategy of our clients.  Yet the context of our special reports means that our client's role, in the economic landscape, is highlighted not only through positive reporting on their contribution to the success of the country's economy but also through highly effective advertising that is not "run of print" (ROP). 

While we are aware that Special Advertising Sections, Special Reports and Special Promotional Features have historically prompted some criticism for being too commercial, we aim to produce balanced editorial that reflects the situation in a positive manner aimed at informing the reader without being subjective.  We are confident of the impact that our reports can have on raising awareness of countries, leading or successful companies and on altering people's perceptions. Advertising in a special report or section not only increases the attention readers pay to advertisements but raises the profile of country in which the institution operates or is based.

Acknowledgement of our special features as a useful marketing tool in promoting the country and as an effective platform to voice the current economic and political climate is evident from the letters of recommendation we have received.  A prime example of this is the work we carried out for a feature for publication in an Italian media, Corriere della Sera Magazine, for Slovenia. Our professionalism and the outcome of the feature was highly appreciated as were the concrete results of physical enquiries to the Milan-based Slovenian Tourist Board.

As a professional team we invest ourselves wholeheartedly in our projects and in finding solutions that satisfy all parties. Indeed we aim to build long-term relationships with all our clients with an aim to fulfilling or advising clients as to how to plan their marketing strategy in the years to come. We welcome the future cooperation of entities, be they from the public or private sector, in order to elaborate these special features. Partners in our previous projects can testify to the depth of our research and understanding in both cultural and business terms. 

We find it enormously rewarding to work with different cultures looking to increase awareness and highlight the successful aspects of their nation, sector and/or company. We may have worked on the field for a long time but we never tire of our winning collaborations with clients and are happy to have a growing number of "satisfied customers". There is always something new to learn in this job and there is always room for improvement so we strive to reach new heights with every project we do. 

We believe that in order to best represent your country we must come to you. With the incredible (perhaps almost unfathomable) amount of and proliferation of information that is available nowadays it would be easy to stay in a head office and just do research. However, visiting your country to meet the decision makers and personalities who shape the economic landscape, as well as experiencing your nation's offerings, gives us an incomparable understanding of your needs and how to project your image to the rest of the world...or the chosen target media.

So do you have a success story to tell the rest of the world? Are you a nation or company looking to raise awareness in a particular country, market or segment but struggling to find the right solution? If this is you or you are just interested in our current activities or would like to collaborate with us in the future please contact us by email at email@sorchahellyer.com

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

 1 - Quote by Rollo May