Team PPG’s single Print The World features contributions from the group’s CEO Gary Peeling, chief operating officer Jon Bailey, and chief innovation officer Jon Tolley among others as part of a 15 strong group from the business. A music video and outtakes were also recorded, both of which can be viewed here.
The single was launched to support the company’s 2022 list of Positive Impact Commitments, which will see the business commit to a number of initiatives to help make a positive impact on its people, its communities, its customers, and its environment.
These include committing to volunteering days for all of the group’s employees to help support the local community, committing to a calendar of fundraising activities for both its nominated national and local charities, the introduction of a team of mental health first aiders across its sites, and the introduction of recycling stations in all of its offices, kitchens and factories.
It will also launch a downtime waste manage initiative to reduce waste across the business, introduce green product alternatives on its ecommerce sites, hold sustainability events to help share information and ideas with its customers, and commit to only using energy from 100% sustainable sources.
While the single will not be commercially released, the company said it had “got our Bono on to deliver some extra festive cheer”.
Bailey quipped: “It was recorded in a studio in Sheffield, home to Arctic Monkeys and Pulp. Sheffield has a fruitful history in creating fabulous musicians in independent studios, we just followed that same path!”
He told Printweek: “I’d actually been thinking about this for a little while. It’s not the easiest thing to pull together but I think [we wanted to do it] based on the fact that the last couple of years have been tough for everyone and we’ve seen a big change in mental health in people, their families, and the team.
“Every time you think you get past it something else comes in so it’s been a bit of a slog and it didn’t feel like it was getting much better with the news that’s been coming out over the last few months, so we were just trying to think about what we could do to spread a bit of joy and have a bit of a laugh.
“You’ve got to try and remember that you work hard and you’ve got to play hard, and a lot of people have forgotten that over this period because it’s hard to remember to play hard when the world seems as hard as it is.”
He added: “We just thought it was maybe time to bring a little bit of the old fun stuff back and not take it too seriously while at the same time trying to get the message out there for people that we are the elves, the ones that are busy and probably working longer and harder in November and December than in other periods.
“So we have to try and make sure that the teams in the factories, the people that are grafting, the temp workers, the permanent workers, and the managers enjoy and try to celebrate the fact that it’s busy and it’s Christmas.
“And the message about putting our arms around the world a bit more is that we want to do more and help more; we have more commitment to sustainability but also to our communities, our people and our families, so it’s about getting that message out.”
Precision Proco Group head of marketing Helen Smith came up with the lyrics, which alter those of the original with lines such as ‘at Christmas time, we make sure all your gifts are made’, and ‘there’s a world inside our factories, and it’s a world of fun and cheer’.
Bailey said the song and video were a surprise to the group’s other staff when they were unveiled internally at the same time as being sent out to clients, who gave “great feedback” according to Bailey.
“Everyone’s taken it for what it was, we’ve had some really lovely comments and everyone has come back and said it’s really made them smile and that the message has really hit home”.
